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The 


Degeneracy of Aristocracy 


BY 

W. A. STURDY 



BOSTON 

Published by the Author 
J. D. BONNELL & SON, PRINTERS 
1907 





LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

MAh 23 t907 

^ Gopyrisrht Entry 

3/f o7 

CLASS A XXC„ No.' 



Copyright 1907, by 
W : . A. STURDY 
All Rights Reserved 






TO THE READER. 


It is the purpose of this book to show, by the retro¬ 
spect of history, that democracy is destined to assert 
itself in such a positive manner as to overthrow the 
commonly accepted theories of the past, that are so tena¬ 
ciously held to, for the apparent purpose of trying to 
maintain a declining aristocracy. History is one con¬ 
tinuous story of natural progress, rising upon the ruins 
of artificial decay. The Declaration of Independence 
did not convey a privilege of equality in the absence of 
courage enough to act. It was a divine principle, analo¬ 
gous to the Golden Rule; it could also be recognized 
that every act of the will, involving individual responsi¬ 
bility, is art. American aristocracy (founded upon cult¬ 
ure, righteousness or wealth), when the object is to 
obtain a luxurious existence upon the toil of others, de* 
dared to be inferior—is slavery—and rests upon the 
same principle that every form of slavery has rested 
upon in the past. 

One only needs to read the Bible to learn that natural 
righteousness cannot be permanently controlled by arti¬ 
ficial wickedness. It may be a popular hope that an 
aristocracy founded upon culture will solve the present 


social and political disturbance, but will history bear out 
such a theory ? Aristocracy of every character always 
rides more comfortably when it is drawn by ignorance 
under the lash of fear. But when every adult person 
can read, will it be possible to compel them to serve 
without treating them as a party to the contract ? It is 
certainly a common privilege to read, and also an indi¬ 
vidual privilege to study history for one’s own personal 
benefit. While the strife between aristocracy and de¬ 
mocracy is becoming as intense as the slavery question 
prior to the civil war, a person must be dull indeed not 
to observe that democracy is pushing upward, while 
aristocracy has a monopoly of the downward course. 


/ 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Nature and Art as the two conditions of human existence, and the 
relation of natural language to the artificial being analogous 
to democracy and aristocracy. n 

CHAPTER II. 

The advent of the Israelites with Jacob’s aristocratic proclivity 
and the natural spirit of liberty his descendants had the cour¬ 
age to display, yet by clinging to the idea they were a “chosen 
people,” rushed on to destruction; an example that aristocracy 
has followed ever since. 20 

CHAPTER III. 

The birth of Christ a democratic event, from which progressive 
society has continued to advance against the oppressive wars 
of aristocracy. 31 

CHAPTER IV. 

The compiling of the Scriptures, and the introduction of Church 
and State as a political measure, to counteract the democratic 
growth of Christianity. 41 

CHAPTER V. 

The Crusades effected the spread of Christianity, while they 
showed the fanatical error of trying to advance the cause by 
w eapons of w ar. 53 

CHAPTER VI. 

The “Reformation” encouraged a democratic resistance, and the 
fact that religion w r as naturally free from political intrigue 
destroyed the Roman Empire, w T hile the spirit of the Christian 
Church w T as more evident...... 63 









CHAPTER VII. 


PAGE 

The discovery of America, and the invention of the printing press 
were more destructive to aristocracy than gunpowder was to 
democracy. 74 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Natural liberty was more encouraged by the individual privilege to 
read, while the profoundly learned were trying to discover 
some method by which the wickedness of aristocracy could be 
hidden from democrats who could read. 84 

CHAPTER IX. 

Natural conditions gave England the lead in human progress. The 
advent of coal, iron, and the use of steam was no credit to the 
aristocracy, who simply grew wealthy upon land rent, and the 
profit derived from compelling her subjects to either work or 
starve. 94 

CHAPTER X. 

Natural man discovered by Columbus, and the effort to enslave 

them resulted in transforming them into “savages.”. 103 

CHAPTER XI. 

The influence of public schools upon the progress of America, 

and the innocent bigotry of the Puritans. 113 

CHAPTER XII. 

The effect of commerce and wealth upon the colonies, and the 

ridicule of European historians. 123 

CHAPTER XIII. 

The introduction of manufacturing enterprises stimulated natural 
ingenuity; also the failure of the mother country to confine 
the colonies to strictly agricultural pursuits. 133 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The contention between the Catholic and Protestant factions of 

the Christian Church in the American colonies. 142: 










CHAPTER XV. 

PAGE 

Conditions that led to the American Revolution, and the rela¬ 
tions between the tories, a sub-aristocracy, and the courageous 
liberty-loving colonists....... 153 

CHAPTER XVI. 

The Declaration of Independence and the fright of the tories, 
showing that despotism, tyranny, and slavery were responsible 
for war...... 163 


CHAPTER XVII. 

The successful ending of the war was a victory for democracy and 
Christianity, and the compromise of Congress to satisfy com¬ 
mercial greed and encourage the building of an American 
aristocracy... 175 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

The framing of the Constitution, and the skillful methods employed 
to take advantage of the ignorant masses and adopt a perfect 
imitation of a monarchial form of government. 185 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The French Revolution stimulated by the event in America. Also 
a comparison of what aristocracy calls mob rule, and its 
privilege to war against democracy and call it civilized warfare. 197 

CHAPTER XX. 

The phenomenal growth of the United States due to natural causes 
and free opportunity, rather than any devotion of elected rep¬ 
resentatives to the interests of the common people. 206 


CHAPTER XXI. 

The academy of experience and the ruling power of God were a 
greater factor in the progress of the world, as the duplicity of 
human politics was revealed to the reading public. 215 


CHAPTER XXII. 


The imigration of the Irish to the northern States, and their re¬ 
lation to chattel slavery. The surprise of England at the 
growth of America; also her political diplomacy in the inter¬ 
est of aristocracy. 


226 








CHAPTER XXIII. 


PAGE 

Political chicanery that tried to hide the commercial interest in 
slavery by labeling the most aristocratic party in the country 
democracy, which resulted in the liberation of the slaves.... 239 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

No “trust” more firmly fastened upon the United States than the 
political system dominated by a “boss” for the purpose of ex¬ 
clusive profit, rather than any interest in the common welfare. 251 

CHAPTER XXV. 

The commercial interest of newspapers and magazines is more 
evident than their influence to prevent corruption. They 
voice a united sentiment, that “ignorance is vice” and has no 
rights that educated people are bound to respect. 263 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

The extravagance of education tends to encourage aristocratic 
expectations, rather than good morals and democratic sim- 
P licit y. 273 


CHAPTER XXVII. 

The relation of natural man (democracy) to society wars have not 
settled yet. Besides the artificial effort to supersede nature 
is dissolved in aristocratic decay. 285 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 

The rivalry between culture and dollars to control the future of 
America will be obliged to seek the favor of the food-produc¬ 
ing democracy, for it holds the key to the present situation.. 297 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

The human disposition to “boss” things. The faculty of imagina¬ 
tion, and the companionship of alcohol and culture. The 
political character of Normal Schools. 308 


CHAPTER XXX. 

A government can be whatever the majority of the inhabitants 
have courage to make it. How John Adams deceived the 
common people and encouraged their disfranchisement. 319 







CHAPTER XXXI. 


PAGE 

^‘Referendum” not only possible but probable just as soon as the 

people have courage to demand such a simple natural right. 329 

CHAPTER XXXII. 

'The incongruity of an elective government being controlled by a 
specific class, always in a minority, is suggestive of Lincoln’s 
remark: “A nation cannot continue to exist half free and half 
slave.”. . 340 

CHAPTER XXXIII. 

The universal privilege of art a common inheritance, and no reason 
for its being monopolized by a class choosing to be exclusive, 
for they could enjoy the bounty of Nature with less fear than 
they appear to possess at the present time. 351 
























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THE DEGENERACY OF 
ARISTOCRACY. 


CHAPTER I. 


JT 7 HE conditions of life can be wholly embraced in 
[ two distinct features — Nature and Art. Nature 
is divine and perfect, while Art is human and 
subject to the individual will. It is quite simple, in the 
effort to express one’s thoughts in words, to find other 
words to confound our understanding, until the in¬ 
dividual will often declare : “ There is no such condition 
as liberty or free will; we are mere subjects of some 
power entirely beyond our control.” Such a conclusion 
can be readily reached when we try to harmonize the 
confusion of words. It is possible for two persons to 
absolutely agree in thought, and yet dispute for hours 
over the method of expression. 

It would be well to observe that thoughts and the 
desire to express them were prior to language or 
books. From the first effort to produce a written 
language, great care has been taken to make language 
comprehensive to people of mutual understanding. It 
has enabled men, organized in groups, to monopolize the 
bounty of the earth for their own benefit; besides, it is 



12 (the degeneracy of aristocracy. 

& 

an unquestioned principle, that the mind can be culti¬ 
vated to a prodigious extent, until such a person becomes 
vastly superior to one who is simply endowed with his 
silent thoughts. Yet the superiority of the cultivated 
man is Art; while the thought, or more strictly ex¬ 
pressed, the sense of being is just as pure as when first 
breathed into the material body of man. 

No person is responsible for his birth, and it stands 
to reason that the earth is a common inheritance from a 
natural standpoint. Hence the conclusion is, that we 
are naturally equal so far as rights are concerned, and 
unequal only in artificial ability. 

It is not assumed that this writing is infallible, or 
that the ordinary student is not familiar with these 
simple ideas. It is rather in defiance of such a thought. 
But the charge is made distinctly, that by reason of 
artificial ability men have assumed the existence of 
infallibility in man, and also that some men are specific¬ 
ally privileged. The use of the word privilege as 
applied to men of superior ability, suggests the question : 
From whence is this privilege derived? Is it possible 
for a man to elect himself to a privilege to use his 
superior ability to deprive others of an equal oppor¬ 
tunity ? It is a privilege to exist; it is a privilege to be 
tall, it enables a man to reach higher; it is a privilege 
for a man to use his superior ability after he has 
obtained it by great effort. It is also the privilege of 
the most inferior creature to exercise his sense of being 
in expressing his thoughts in whatever manner his lesser 
ability suggests. The first principle of life is the sense 
of existence — the individual consciousness. Is not the 
ability to see of greater importance than what we see ? 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 13 

Besides, is there any word that will express the actual 
sense of existence ? Mechanical instruments may de¬ 
termine the length of vision, but the ability to see is 
only known by the actual ability to see something. 

It is very important to the clear understanding of this 
writing, to agree upon some common plane or starting 
point, for technicalities and what are termed common 
accepted authorities, will not be considered as having 
any influence upon the thought that is endeavoring to 
make itself clear. 

From the fact, that very important words, bearing 
upon life and personal duty are given both a positive and 
negative meaning, it is essential to the purpose of this 
writing to accept words with their positive definitions. 
For instance: We have the words Nature and Art, as 
expressing the two most essential conditions of life. 
Now, the word knowledge, will be used as sense, while 
the word education, will be used as Art. The word 
information, is too vague to be of any use in the con¬ 
veying of knowledge in its strict sense. The word 
aristocracy, will apply to a privileged class of society; 
it will not embrace plutocracy, which is a more recent 
word, and applies to opulence derived from the posses¬ 
sion of money. 

Plutocracy is a recognized condition in the United 
States, while aristocracy is impossible, if we recognize a 
consistency in our form of government. In fact, no 
class condition is recognized in law; yet, sentimentally 
it could be claimed to exist, and an undoubted privilege 
for anyone to make such a claim. 

Aristocrats cannot find a single sentence in the Bible 
to justify their claim to being a privileged class Aris- 


14 THE degeneracy of aristocracy. 

tocracy is an absolute institution of Art; while the Bible 
is strictly a plebian book, its superiority over all other 
books is derived from this fact. Regardless of the 
method by which it was produced, or from whence its 
inspiration, it represents the divinity and nature of life 
more directly than any other book in print. It must be 
admitted, however, that the production of the Bible 
is Art, in the sense that the word Art is used in 
this writing. 

Reivers of blood have been shed to protect the sacred 
book, and yet the people will have it. In addition to 
the wars it has indirectly caused, it has been assailed in 
literature by the most intellectual men of the world 
of the Socrates type. Thousands of interpretations 
have been extracted from it, and vast volumes written 
trying to destroy its plebian character. Besides, its 
firmest supporters have settled down to a conviction 
that only a superior mind can understand it. It has, 
therefore, become a commercial affair; that is, a man 
cannot obtain “the correct” interpretation without 
paying for it. It does not, however, in any sense 
disturb its existence or its most important teaching. 

When the science of education first began to develop, 
we can conclude from the present standpoint, that a 
man’s natural conceit became inflated as rapidly as 
his senses. We can also infer from the present obser¬ 
vation of men who become great intellectual characters, 
that they are especially privileged to transmit the Bible 
to the common mind. The Bible itself is quoted to 
justify this claim. Hence, from an early understanding 
of the Bible it was 'considered to be a fanatical 
story by the sages of old, who were the nucleus of a 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 15 

later aristocracy. Even the philosophy of Socrates con¬ 
sidered the power of cultivated knowledge, or education 
to be the ruling power of the world. There was not the 
least consideration for the mere toilers of the earth. It 
is quite interesting to observe that the sages of the 
present should have discovered they were especially 
privileged to interpret the Bible, when it is a historical 
fact that men bearing the same relation to the plebian 
•class — or claiming to in the earlier age — were the very 
■class that the Bible rebuked. 

The present situation also reveals how confusion can 
be worse confounded; when men the equal of Socrates 
in intellect have dissected the Bible as only a scholar 
could, and declared it to be a myth, while they clung 
tenaciously to the principal feature of aristocracy. That 
is, that mere toilers of the earth were subject to those 
who were their intellectual superiors. It is easier to 
•discover the motive than to combat with the intellectual 
giants of the present day. We have history enough to 
•disclose the fact that the intellectual “trust” is of that 
magnitude that the largest commercial “trust” in com¬ 
parison is a mere pigmy. Why! people are positively 
trained to abstain from reading books that are not 
previously recommended by some authority of note. 
Men in their intellectual frenzy, give every evidence of 
•sincerity in the delusion that the Bible emphatically con¬ 
demns, and only by the most strenuous exertion can the 
giants of intellect keep the multitude in subjection. 
The simple reason is, everybody is learning to read, and 
ancient history cannot be expunged. 

The Bible would have been smothered in infancy, but 
for the fact that some enterprising “ crank or fanatic ” 


16 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

was continually bringing it to light. It is one of the 
best proofs possible that the Bible is a sacred book, 
that it has continued to exist in defiance of all the 
intellectual effort to destroy it. It was the first star of 
hope of a literary character that revealed to the plebian 
or human slave that he had a soul. Even if it was 
smaller than that of the sages, it had the same individual 
importance to the possessor. Now, to satisfy any 
critical mind that would waste valuable time in trying to 
discover earlier literary efforts than the Bible; it might 
satisfy his thirst for looking backward to see forward, to 
say, that earlier writings were at least contingent to the 
Bible, and none had stood a more severe test. Hence it 
is a reasonable claim to assert that the Bible occupies 
the first place in literature. 

The sages of old had no idea of what is a revealed 
fact today; besides, it is too well known to more than 
casually observe, that a new idea in the early days was 
treated with as much scorn by the sages then as 
the same class of people treat new ideas today. If 
a man had prophesied two thousand years ago some of 
the simplest events that have occurred, he would have 
been considered an emissary direct from Satan. In 
the early days of the writings that the Bible was 
compiled from, the most intellectual men had no idea 
that literature could be scattered among the people 
like leaves from trees. All literature in the early days 
of the art of written language was so rare, that it was 
guarded with as much care as a new scientific discovery 
would be at the present time. The sage who could 
perform such a wonder, however rude, was stared at and 
worshipped as a person akin to some unseen spirit. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 17 

Education as an art — teaching by letters or signs, 
was limited to the most exalted persons, and it is not at 
all strange that scribes assumed a commanding position; 
particularly when it is so common at the present day for 
a man to try to monopolize whatever he can get hold of. 
When it is observed how wonderful it was to possess in 
the mind a system of signs and establish a method 
of education at its first conception, it was no less 
remarkable than modern discoveries. Besides, it is 
reasonable to suppose that only men of commanding 
presence were expected to possess such skill. The 
word clergy, signified a man who could read, and he en¬ 
joyed an exemption from prosecution fully equal to 
a politician of the present day. He was a privileged 
character, and the very essence of aristocracy, for the 
first “blue bloods” were so ignorant that they depended 
upon the clergy to sign their names for them. There is 
no evidence in history that the people, as a rule, were as 
wicked in the early days as they are now, and when we 
realize that boys in the public schools of the present 
day, would have put the early clergy to shame so far as 
artful education is concerned, it may well be asked : 
How wicked will the Almighty permit the people to 
become before He puts a stop to it ? The sense of 
liberty is inherent; the action of a child will display the 
spirit of liberty in its first effort, it demands “ bread ” 
and will not be satisfied with a stone. 

Valor at arms, and brute force were the first suggestion 
of aristocracy, or a distinct privilege; it gave rise to 
a conviction that might was right. In the weak con¬ 
dition of the natural intellect, desire predominated over 
reason, and men of superior strength became absolute 


1 8 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

tyrants. The purity of the inherent intellect was so 
individual in the first instances of society, it had no 
method of overpowering brute force. Hence, whoever 
could collect the strongest force of men, would become a 
chief, and from such small beginnings aristocratic gov¬ 
ernments were formed. Art in its infancy, was employed 
first to make rude implements of war, and when letters 
appeared, the scribes were considered to be superior 
even to kings, for they were supposed to be in direct 
communication with the “Great Spirit.” Now, the 
advent of the Bible was a victory for the individual 
purity of the mind over brute force. Nothing can be 
clearer than the fact that the art of letters discovered by 
certain scribes, produced the Bible. It strengthens its 
sacred character, and does not detract in the least from 
the declaration that it is inspired. It is reasonable 
to conclude from the evidence of history, that the 
Bible includes the first writings that individual man was 
able to perform after the art of letters was discovered. 
To put these conditions in a concise form, it can be seen 
that instruments of war were the first methods to protect 
society. It was also the first apparent necessity for art, 
which was constantly suggesting to the mind some 
improvement. Hence, written words became a compet¬ 
itor as instruments for the protection of society. 

A brief allusion to the early formation of society, 
seems to be necessary to establish a clear conception of 
the claim that natural man was a perfect being in 
the image of God. No regard is paid to previous 
writing, for the privilege cannot be questioned at this 
day for any individual to express his mind upon the sub¬ 
ject. Every man is born just as perfect at the present 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


19 


time as Adam was; but the conditions have so changed 
by reason of scientific discovery, and the development of 
art, that it is not unusual to celebrate the wedding 
in gorgeous attire, while choice wines and heavier liquids 
are sipped at the banquet, instead of a solitary apple 
that caused so much mischief in the early days. 

Silent language is just as perfect as the man while he 
is absolutely ignorant of art; but m‘an is lonesome in 
solitude. He is just as hungry for society as for food, 
and the woman is his equal on general lines, and in 
specialties his superior, for she will make discoveries 
in the dark that daylight will not reveal to man. Now, 
when a man and woman first meet, it is the silent 
language that conveys the first sign of mutual agree¬ 
ment, and, it is very doubtful if the natural language was 
ever improved upon by any that art ever introduced. 
Hence, both society and language were introduced in their 
natural perfection, and art has been struggling to this 
clay to compete. It is a stern chase, however, and safe 
to conclude that it always will be. Man had no business 
to have fallen from a state of perfection - just because he 
got married. It was due to the grasping disposition of a 
man to monopolize the entire earth after the happy event. 
It is claimed by this illustration, that no depravity 
appeared until the advent of art. Hence it is a mistake 
to charge the depravity of the world to Nature, for it 
was entirely due to art, which became a necessity to the 
world after man went into society. When man first 
considered the social problem, he thought he could 
marry all the women, and kill all his brothers — hence 
war appeared, and art supplied the weapons. 

Facial expression was the infancy of language; it is 


20 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


reasonable to suppose that it was the first method 
of reflecting thought from one person to another. From 
historical records, it is quite evident that the language of 
art was ingenuous, but of very slow growth, which 
the Egyptian hieroglyphics attest — mere pictures of ob¬ 
jects, to record events. Hence we have natural lang¬ 
uage, and the picture — the product of art. The former 
from God, the latter from man. 


CHAPTER IT. 


CT 7 HE advent of the Israelites was one of the prom- 
[ inent events of the earth, for several reasons. It 
is not unreasonable to claim they were a “ chosen 
people,” for their history was extensively chronicled 
in the Bible. It is not necessary to question any claim 
of historical priority from the East, for the Anglo Saxon 
race is the race of progress, largely due to the instru¬ 
mentality of the Bible. Hence some historical features 
of the Israelites are important to show the primary 
advent of aristocracy. The story of Esau selling his 
birth-right had more significance than the little affair 
would seem to indicate. It may not have been the 
thought of the writer, but at this day it suggests the ad¬ 
vent of aristocracy, and with such interpretation it is one 
of the many remarkable illustrations of the Old Testa¬ 
ment. When it is realized how remarkable the Bible is 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


21 


for its liberality, and especially its recognition of the 
brotherhood of man, the little affair between Esau and 
Jacob expresses the very substance of the whole Bible. 

The priority of birth in those days was, doubtless, of 
greater significance than it is now. The parting with a 
birth-right — his manhood — was practically an intellec¬ 
tual suicide, for while Esau continued to live physically, 
he was mentally dead. He voluntarily surrendered 
his intellectual right to being a factor in the Israelite 
crusade, to gratify a mere physical appetite. He could, 
doubtless, tend sheep and till the soil, but his natural 
right to the employment of his mind he had bartered 
away by subscribing to a subordinate position; it could 
not have occurred after aristocracy became more firmly 
established* for a man’s blood relation would have bought 
him a commission in the army, when he could have 
satisfied his appetite at the expense of the government. 
If a man had no aristocratic relations, he would practi¬ 
cally be in the same fix that Esau was. 

Appetite may be a species of disease, for, no doubt, 
many have observed that a man is more reasonable after 
his physical needs are supplied. It is well to feel 
charitable toward Esau, for they had no daily papers in 
those days, and to his uncultivated mind a good dinner 
was more important than a correct chronology of his age. 
Besides, if the story was a mere romance, it signifies 
a feature of life that has done more to sustain a respect¬ 
able aristocracy than any other. It reflects upon the 
equal rights of man, for it can be admitted that liberty 
makes it possible for a man to commit suicide. But this 
Esau story takes a different phase when the relation of 
Jacob to it is considered. 


22 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


It has already been shown, and doubtless, the average 
observer will attest, that man is usually willing to 
appropriate any circumstance that will benefit himself. 
Now, Jacob had no business to have accepted that 
sacrifice from his own brother, for he was more guilty 
than Esau, and courts of the present day, that would 
take a little bribe, or a political pull now and then, 
would not have sustained Jacob. The evidence may 
have shown that he tempted Esau with the savor of the 
stew. He certainly accepted the advantage, and, no 
doubt, realized its value more than Esau; but both 
being Jews, they, no doubt, agreed that it was “ busi¬ 
ness.” Now, this little “ stew ” has still another 
significant feature of more importance to the United 
States than all the existing aristocrats of the world. 
It is in such a multitude of forms that it would fill 
a library of “ Carnegie ” size to express it in detail. 
Esau was privileged by reason of his liberty to subscribe 
to an event that practically deprived him of it; but the 
principle of coercion, or undue influence dwarfs the little 
trade, for it became the foundation of aristocracy, and 
when that gives away, it is evident to the thought that 
is seeking expression by this writing, that it will be dis¬ 
covered that the foundation of aristocracy was built 
in the “sand.” 

Multitudes of methods are employed to coerce the un¬ 
wary, and while it is contrary to law at the present 
time, the difficulty of proving such accusation, would 
furnish enough new business to occupy all the courts in 
the United States. All the literary giants of the 
present day, who compare their own philosophy with the 
ancient type, should be fore-warned, and study the fact 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 23 

that coercion was comparitively easy previous to the 
Declaration of Independence, for the simple reason that 
everybody is learning to read. It is only the illiterate 
that can be successfully enslaved or coerced into the 
condition of Esau. Even if politicians can fool the 
people at the ballot box, and laugh at the Declara¬ 
tion of Independence, neither they nor our modern 
philosophers can suppress free speech or the privilege 
to learn to read. Now, that is precisely the difficulty 
that modern philosophers have, while Socrates had 
no trouble in that direction. It is to the credit of 
the Bible that it was the first literary expression of the 
equality of man. John Adams, or John Hancock may 
have written the Declaration of Independence, but the 
idea was taken from the Bible. The principle of coer¬ 
cion can only be treated in a general manner; for 
to enter into the subject in detail, would be too vol¬ 
uminous. Society is divided and subdivided into all 
sorts of conditions, for reasons just as numerous. Unity 
is strength, and societies are formed to counteract the 
influence of other societies, and from the well-known fact 
of “man’s inhumanity to man,” a government of some 
kind is a necessity. No man or woman in the United 
States, is subject to any other man or woman unless 
they sell their birth-right, which is their personal 
privilege. Now, if the individual is unwary, it is possible 
for him to be unduly influenced for various reasons, or 
false promises; by such means he becomes subject to 
whatever conditions he subscribes to. He has legal 
redress, providing he can prove he has been unduly 
influenced; but if it occurred in an indirect manner, it 
would be next to impossible to prove it. For instance: 


24 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


If a man joins a society, and subscribes to an agreement 
either verbally or in writing, that makes him a sub¬ 
ordinate of some other man, he has sold his birth-right 
precisely the same as Esau did. On the other hand, if 
a man, for his own benefit, takes an advantage of 
another, and unduly influences him to subscribe to some 
specific object, the man taking such advantage becomes 
a modern Jacob 

It is not the fault of illiterate men that their ignorance 
is taken advantage of. It is the entire fault of the 
literate, for while they are better able to take care of 
themselves, they become filled with Socrates philosophy 
that men of “knowledge” are masters of the ignorant 
masses; thus the followers of Socrates sold their birth¬ 
right for a “mess of pottage,” because they were hungry 
like Esau, and too tired, or felt too important to be 
obliged to get something to eat themselves. Such men 
want to be served, and even if they discover their 
mistake, it is too humiliating to retrace their steps. 
For men who claim to be “masters” for the purpose of 
being served would prefer physical suicide rather than 
acknowledge they had been laboring under a mistake. 
Both ancient and modern philosophers use the word 
knowledge as pertaining to education and information; 
it implies that God only gave knowledge to a privileged 
class of society — aristocracy. Now, the Bible claims 
that God gave knowledge to the entire human race, and 
they “did know” when their eyes were opened. 

Socrates was too intelligent to teach his followers 
that God gave “ Socrates’ philosophy ” to all the human 
race. Hence he denied the Bible and God’s right to be 
so liberal with knowledge. He, doubtless, felt strong 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


25 


enough with his powerful intellect, to at least outwit the 
“ignorant” masses of his time. With all his philo¬ 
sophical ability, he would have, no doubt, laughed at the 
idea of teaching the masses to read. He may have been 
a very humane man — that is, he felt charitable toward 
the masses in the same manner that he would not be 
unkind to an animal. But, judging from “great men” 
of a later period, he was possessed with the same feeling 
of selfishness that Jacob felt. All men of great ability 
are, no doubt, aware of it themselves; like Bonaparte, 
he felt himself to be a man of destiny — he was over¬ 
whelmed with the possibilities of art, and failed to 
see that God granted no special privileges to man for a 
selfish purpose. That the masses were subjects of 
Jearned men, was, no doubt, thought to be correct by 
Socrates; hence the traffic in human beings was con¬ 
sidered perfectly correct by the Greeks, who are wor¬ 
shipped at the present day for their great learning, while 
their wickedness and great fall are considered accidents. 
If any one circumstance will unbalance a man’s judg¬ 
ment, it is popular applause, or to feel that he is being 
followed. The Greeks must have felt their importance 
very much, for literature and great scholars were rare in 
those days 

We should try to overlook Jacob’s mistakes, for 
his descendants became the most remarkable race on the 
globe. They were the first to recognize the universal 
character of all mankind; and while their conduct was 
subject to fierce criticism, they became the advance 
guard of civilization. They were the first people who 
had courage enough to declare their independence, 
and revolt in a body against the principle of oppression. 


26 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


They should not be denied the credit for the good they 
did, because some of them became too important 
for their own interests. There were men among them,, 
which the Bible attests, that had a better idea of the 
relation of God to man than men who try to cling 
to both the Bible and aristocracy. If the “ scribe ” 
among the Jews had never written anything more after 
writing: “No man can serve two masters,” it was enough 
to immortalize him, besides being a credit to the race 
from which he sprung. 

In looking back two thousand years, an impatient 
man might ask the same questions that were often 
propounded to Moses in substance : “Why is God so slow 
if he is leading us to the land of milk and honey?” to* 
answer, that the reason was because even the grand¬ 
children of Abraham — the personification of righteous¬ 
ness— were unjust toward each other, and every answer 
would suggest another query — “ why ? ” To any person 
that can read, all the questions of — “why,” are care¬ 
fully answered in the Bible. 

All well disposed people are, no doubt, anxious to 
know when strife is to cease, and when “ peace and good 
will,” will arrive, or when the people will be led to the 
promised land. The great advantage the people of this 
age have over the Israelites is the ability to read; and 
ancient history is as much the privilege of one person as 
any specific class of society. It answers the general 
question: “Why is God so slow?” Because it takes a 
good while for people to learn to read, and much longer 
than it would have taken if men like Socrates had 
not tried to monopolize the power of literature for their 
personal benefit. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 2 J 

The advent of oppression was the discovery of art, in 
like manner to a babe’s discovery of his fist, and later* 
that he could appropriate little trifles lying around 
to satisfy an appetite which he had also discovered 
by his intellectual sense, that no book is able to teach. 
As he grew up to manhood and discovered the great 
power of art to develop natural conditions, he still 
had the same disposition to pick up things to satisfy his 
appetite. Do not ask anyone to explain “ why God is so 
slow,” unless you have some pet scheme which you are 
anxious to develop, when you will find plenty of men that 
will explain it to your satisfaction. On the other hand, if 
you have no other object than a real desire to learn 
“why God is so slow?” read the Bible yourself, and you 
have just as good a title to it as anyone who would en¬ 
deavor to interpret it to you for their own benefit. 
What you are perfectly able to do yourself, would be 
entirely improper to ask anyone to do for you. 

The relation of the Egyptians to the Israelites illus¬ 
trated the relation of aristocracy to the plebian class, or 
the relation of society to the individual. Now, God 
deals direct with the individual, while society organizes 
for some specific advantage, and the principle advantage 
to be derived was the services of any ignorant people 
who had no knowledge of appropriating art to even 
defend themselves against oppression. Hence, the 
Egyptians being powerful in art, were very slow in being 
convinced that the Israelites meant “business.” They 
were as much surprised as the slave-holders in the 
United States were when their slaves escaped them. 
We are not obliged to question the authenticity of 
history to obtain a clear understanding of the motive of 


28 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


aristocracy. Schools of philosophy have contended with 
each other to a prodigious extent by the art. of literature; 
but none have been able to disturb the preeminence 
of the Bible, while the motive is quite apparent to 
justify the oppression of men who are needed to till thq 
soil. The Egyptians were completely outwitted by 
natural man. Even if Moses betrayed his Egyptian 
training, he did not betray his consciousness of what he 
believed to be right. No Egyptian bribe could turn him 
from his purpose. Words can always be found to 
dispute words, but none can be found to dispute the 
source of words successfully. A defender of aristocracy 
could claim that the migration of the Israelites depended 
upon an educated leader; but in this illustration of 
Moses being the leader of “ God’s chosen people,” it 
should be observed, that he was severely punished 
for straying away from a perfect faith in the power 
of God. It could also be shown by the evidence of ex- 
slaves, that they were better cared for in bondage than 
v when left to their own resources, and it is recorded 
of the Israelites, that they “murmured” their suf¬ 
ferings were greater in the wilderness than when in the 
bondage of the Egyptians. It merely proves how words 
can be played with. The “writing on the wall” is, the 
people are learning to read, and when they read, they 
will soon learn they are not subject to any human 
authority, in what they read, or how to understand what 
they read. 

When the real condition of society is revealed to the 
reading people, it can well be hoped that the struggle 
for the right will be confined to literary effort, rather 
than a repetition of history. While the Bible counsels 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 29 

“ peace,” it also proclaims, that no man is a subject of 
another man, and even death is preferable to bondage. 

The temporary success of a designing man will en¬ 
courage him to cultivate his conceit until he develops 
into a tyrant. None but an equal or a cringing servant 
can reach him. He defies the teachings of the Bible, 
and has his conscience soothed by literal interpretation, 
that justifies his course. Nothing is more satisfactory 
to his mind than the apparent failure of the Israelites. 
The tyrant shouts for joy, and declares the Bible to be a 
mere romance, written by disappointed men in a spirit of 
revenge. He reasons from his own feelings, that what¬ 
ever is spoken or written against him are failures, while 
to justify his conduct is to recognize the wisdom which 
he feels himself to be specially endowed with. His 
conceit sustains him, for he declares again, that it 
will require an educated man to teach the masses. He 
would also defend the action of the Egyptians, and 
denounce the mistakes of Moses, and add, that it should 
be preached to the toilers of the sod to serve their 
masters cheerfully, for it was the will of God for them to 
serve. This idea could be continued, but plenty of 
writings exist that show the great effort to give every 
passage in the Bible a favorable interpretation to satisfy 
the desire of man — his appetite. 

It is suggested to the mind that is trying to express 
itself in this writing, that the very names of the Israel¬ 
ites betrayed their conceit — the common failing of 
man. Their names were simply horrible. They, no 
doubt, felt that it would add greatness to their per¬ 
sonality in proportion to the magnitude of their names. 
The numerous wives they felt privileged to take, is 


30 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


evidence that they were no better as a race than 
the Egyptians. It was the historians that showed 
wisdom, for they chronicled the wickedness of the Jews, 
in the spirit of God, in a clear recognition of universal 
manhood. The Israelites became selfish and aristocratic 
in sentiment, and demanded kings for rulers. The 
scribes and prophets, by the evidence of the Bible, 
respected the power of God in a fearless manner. The 
dissensions among the masses of the people caused their 
downfall. It was, no doubt, due to false teaching, 
for they were entirely dependent upon oral instruction, 
when a man’s greatness was measured by the number of 
his followers. 

The reverent character of the Bible at this day is not 
in the least dependent upon its historical accuracy, 
or the manner in which it was compiled. It is its 
general character that appeals to the individual reader, 
that makes the Bible the progressive instrument of the 
earth. It is verily the “word of God.” The old heroes 
wrote better than they knew, for they had no idea 
of printing presses, or that the masses of the people at a 
later period would be able to read it. 

There are, no doubt, multitudes of sincere teachers of 
the Bible; but there are also multitudes of false teachers 
that appeal to the incredulity of what is termed the 
ignorant masses. This confusion has enabled aris¬ 
tocracy to thrive, but the individual will continue to read 
it more and more, until the aristocracy of the earth will 
be obliged to submit to the human equality of thought 
at least. Besides, if the Bible and general history are 
to be respected, every intelligent man can scarcely fail 
to see how impossible it is for a select few to monopolize 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


a privilege continually, that is distinctly recorded as a 
universal inheritance. 


CHAPTER III. 



HE birth of Christ was the commencement of a new 


1 epoch of the greatest importance in the progress 
of civilization. The relation of this event to the 
continued resistance of aristocracy to anything pro¬ 
gressive, is all this writing has to deal with. The Bible 
distinctly recognizes the source of all power, and human 
authority is entirely subordinate. It is irrelative to the 
subject to attempt even to explain phenomena, or answer 
the question, “ why ? ” The mistakes of Moses; the 
ambiguity of the “ Pharisee,” or the scepticism of the 
“Sadducee” can be found in the Bible, and there is 
no “key” needed to open the book. It is the modern 
Pharisee and Sadducee that the thought herein ex¬ 
pressed has to deal with. 

The principle of growth is very slow, either from 
a natural or artificial standpoint. It explains the reason 
why great reforms are so slow in coming; but the 
student of history cannot but remark the steady growth 
•of civilization. The ambitious man that desires to have 
the world know that it was due to his efforts, or to men 
that he particularly designates, is not at all pertinent to 
the fact that civilization is a vigorous plant, and con¬ 
tinues to grow. If the individual would admit his own 
mistakes as readily as he can point out the mistakes of 
Moses, the growth of civilization would be more rapid. 


32 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


The unit of thought that this writing is derived from, 
makes no claim to authority. It merely suggests that 
you read the Bible and find out for yourself. If you. 
cannot read, you are in the same fix that the people 
were at the advent of Christ, for at that period the only 
method of informing the multitude was oral preaching. 
They had both false and true exhortations; and it is the 
privilege of every unit of society to read history and 
judge for itself which was false or which was true. 
There is no recorded preaching of Christ or his disciples 
that reflected the conditions of the present time, that is, 
specifically, but the power of God has been demonstrated 
in accord with their teachings. The Roman aristocracy, 
or the dignitaries of Rome, were practically the rulers of 
Europe at the time of Christ. It is quite evident they 
had no conception of Christianity. They certainly had no 
respect for human life, and the masses that constituted 
the toiling people were considered inferior to a horse. 
A “Roman noble” would lament the loss of a horse 
more than he would the loss of a hundred of his slaves. 
There was no evidence of right that was superior to the 
power of the sword. The “rantings” of the Israelites- 
were scarcely heard of, for the reason that all the written 
communications were performed by hand; hence oral 
preaching was scarcely ever conveyed beyond the sound 
of a man’s voice. The feelings of dignity and great im¬ 
portance were, no doubt, a characteristic of the Roman 
nobles. A man of the present time can realize of 
his self-knowledge how it feels to be elected to an 
official position. There has never been any word ever 
coined to express the actual feeling of dignity. It is- 
only reflected by one’s actions in the effort to hide it. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 33 

There is no historical evidence that the sense of ex¬ 
istence has changed from that day to this. The in¬ 
dividual knowledge of oneself is prior to any method of 
teaching that art ever suggested. Even if we can 
see more today than the Israelites could at the time of 
Christ, we must not forget that the power to see has 
never changed; and that power is from God. It would 
be well to study the Israelites just prior to the birth Qf 
Christ, from the reflection of our individual mind, for it 
is the silent thought that is the most difficult to 
understand. 

Now, the Israelites were a disappointed people. 
Every child was, no doubt, taught orally of their glorious 
past, and how ambitious leaders and selfish kings had 
betrayed them until the common people were as miser¬ 
able as when they were the bondsmen of Egypt. They 
had good reason to feel that they were as much Roman 
slaves as their ancestors were Egyptian. It is also 
reasonable that the faith in God was far greater in the 
silent minds than in the minds of their officials who were 
flattered by Roman nobles, and were more tyrannical 
even than foreigners. 

Secret agents were, no doubt, employed by the Roman 
authorities, to mingle among the Israelites, and by such 
methods the hopes of the common people were carefully 
reported. All despotic rulers betray their fear of the 
people by the methods they employ to coerce them. 
The man who dared to exercise free speech, would be a 
man who realized fully that his life would be forfeited. 
A despot has no regard for human life, for he is entirely 
devoted to his personal protection and “ absolute ” 
authority. He hesitates at nothing that will add to his 


34 THE degeneracy of aristocracy. 

prestige. Cringing courtiers are mere vassals in the 
presence of a despot. Such a man becomes so con¬ 
scious of his own importance, that he will assume that 
he has a special privilege from God. He takes every 
opportunity to instill into the mind of his subjects the 
terrible vengeance at whatever displeases him. 

Superstition of every character has been encouraged 
to keep the common people in subjection. While these 
efforts betray the fear of the despot who, doubtless, 
dreams at times of the vengeance of the people, it also 
has the effect among the people to give an appearance 
of submission. Liberty is one of the first conceptions of 
the mind, when the power to move the finger is first 
conveyed to the sense. It is self-knowledge that is 
prior to any form of education derived from books; we 
can be taught submission in unlimited variety, but 
the one little fact of the discovery by the unit of 
humanity that it can move the finger at will, teaches 
more than any one unit can teach another. No one 
is in debt to anyone except to God for the privilege of 
moving the finger at the command of the will, it is 
the fundamental principle of liberty. Every Israelite, 
however lowly, was in possession of that knowledge, 
while the very despot that endeavored to rule had 
no greater knowledge of strictly a fundamental character. 
He would, however, by virtue of his lofty position, 
endeavor to have- all his subjects taught that all their 
privileges depended upon his will alone. 

The coming of a Messiah was promised by the Holy 
men — men who had adhered with faith and trust in 
a dependence upon God. None but a true man can 
fully understand what a Holy man is. He is a man who 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 35 

cannot be bought at any price. He has no selfish 
motive in what he teaches. It is impossible for a man 
to wear the features of holiness for a selfish purpose, 
without betraying himself to a man who is holy. 
Besides, it is often declared that the existence of a holy 
man was a myth. No man has a right to judge 
another; and to claim a disbelief in the existence of 
a holy man is a direct assertion that he, himself, will 
take a direct advantage of his fellow-man at the first 
opportunity. The man who continues to have faith 
in God is a holy man. He will grow wise by the mis¬ 
takes he makes; but if he claims a special privilege to 
make mistakes, and commands a personal service from 
men he insists upon teaching, the man is a fraud. 

Holy men were willing to receive with “joy and glad¬ 
ness ” whatever Messiah God chose to send them; but 
men who felt their personal importance to be the equal 
of God, looked for a king that would lead the Israelites 
in a crusade against their enemies; but the advent 
of Christ was, “ peace and good will toward all men.” 

The expectation of a king roused the Roman author¬ 
ities, and when the birth of Christ was apparent by the 
great rejoicing of the people, Herod issued the infamous 
order for all male children under two years of age to be 
slain. The reference to this circumstance is merely to 
show how alarmed the Romans were, and how conceited 
a man can become to feel that his personal ability 
and knowledge of art could overcome the power of God. 

The Israelites were disappointed in Christ because 
they were ambitious for personal glory and revenge. 
They failed to surrender to God’s authority. They were 
willing to be the “chosen people” of the earth, but they 


36 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


had the individual disposition to rule as the Romans did. 
They had no literature to study, and it would seem from 
the records that they had no use for Christ unless 
he could humble the Romans. The idea of a universal 
brotherhood of man, the very essence of Christ’s teach¬ 
ings was evidently not appreciated by the Jews. It 
is not so strange when we consider their entire depend¬ 
ence upon oral teaching. Their desires for conquest 
were, doubtless, cultivated by ambitious exhorters. They 
were very impatient to realize their desires, and did not 
appreciate the importance of a perfect trust in God. 
They were anxious for evidence in accord with their 
desires. When it was preached to them that they were 
the “chosen people,” they had no conception of any 
method except by the exercise of authority by means of 
the sword. If they had reasoned from their own 
history, which the holy men of Israel no doubt did, 
that men no sooner became possessed with authority 
than they became tyrants; and to merely exchange places 
with the Romans would not advance the cause of civiliz¬ 
ation, which was plainly the purpose of God as taught by 
Christ. 

The dogma of natural depravity could not have been 
drawn from the teaching of Christ. He never rebuked 
men for their ignorance, for the thrusts of his teachings 
were mostly directed to men in authority; besides, it 
was the ignorant masses that shielded him from the 
wrath of Rome. The fact that Christ was always 
the defender of the oppressed has a more important 
bearing upon the dogma of “natural depravity.” To 
hold to that opinion is very inconsistent with a complete 
acknowledgement of the power of God. It is anyone’s 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 37 

privilege to set up a man of straw and then knock him 
down. It cannot be disputed successfully, that all the 
records of Christ’s teachings depended upon art for their 
transmission to posterity. It is plainly discernible at 
this day that the spirit of the Bible is from God, and 
man makes no headway in the effort to explain to a 
sceptical mind what the purpose of the Supreme Being 
was in permitting some specific passage of scripture 
to be embraced in the Bible. It is the privilege of the 
individual to read the Bible and answer his own 
questions, for the very purpose of this writing is to show 
the individual relation to specific authorities which 
are purely the production of art That is, we would 
have had to depend upon oral transmission of the 
Scriptures but for the power of art. Surely one would 
not throw away a barrel of gold coins because one 
counterfeit piece is found among them. 

The dogma of “natural depravity” was invented in all 
probability by the Roman authorities, for the purpose of 
justifying their oppression of beings in their own image. 
It is also embraced at the present time by all who claim 
a privilege to exist by the sweat of other peoples, brows. 
That man is susceptible or prone to depravity is evident 
enough without calling attention to it; but to say that 
an innocent babe is born depraved is the most profane 
use that language or the art of letters was ever put to. 
Yet, in the absence of this dogma no logical reason can 
be shown why any human being is privileged to assert 
authority over another. Upon this sandy dogma rests 
the class of society claiming to be privileged — aris¬ 
tocracy. Philosophers have become fastidious in the 
multitude of books that libraries are filled with, merely 


38 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

to justify a class of society in their claim’ to being 
privileged. Yet God consults no human opinion in His 
method of governing the universe. The learned ability 
to improve literary methods is a great assistance to 
civilization. It not only serves as a method to record 
the ideas of illustrious men, but it enables the vast 
multitude of thinking men to study causes and effects 
by their individual mind. It also shows that God’s 
methods are neither anticipated nor thwarted. It is, 
however, a revelation of the future to carefully consider 
the overthrow of human ambition in the past. 

The persistent effort of men to cling to their prejudice 
is thoroughly illustrated in the Bible. A man may dis¬ 
pute the miracles and the resurrection, yet he cannot 
deny the possibilities of God. On the other hand, he 
can affirm a rigid belief in the miracles and betray 
his motive in asserting a supernatural condition that 
only a specific few are privileged to understand, for the 
purpose of teaching his own interpretation to men of 
less ability. No man can read the teachings of Christ 
without discovering that he is not dependent upon 
any other man to explain them to him. If his prejudice has 
been so cultivated that he is more ignorant than when 
he was bom, he becomes a modern Esau; yet, even 
in that case, Christ distinctly teaches a method of 
regeneracy, for as long as there is life there is hope. 

The scholars or learned men of the Roman empire 
were not so dull, after reading the writings of the 
Apostles, not to see that if individual man was to discover 
that he was only accountable to God, then kings and 
emperors would only be back numbers. It should be 
remembered that Christ taught distinctly, when the 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


39 


Jews wanted to annoint him as the king of Israel, that 
God was the ruling power, and to Him only was man 
a subject. 

Previous to the compiling of the Bible, which is 
recorded to be a period of three hundred years after the 
crucifixion, commentaries of the Apostles’ writings were, 
no doubt, written in vast numbers. 

It was, no doubt, soothing to the Roman dignitaries 
to class all other nations of the earth as barbarians. 
The writers of that period, no doubt, gained great favor 
with the Roman emperors by a system of flattery which 
is reflected at the present day. The profound phil¬ 
osophers were valuable as mysteries, and, no doubt, 
excited deep admiration by all persons who had no idea 
of what they meant. To anyone who can observe how 
easy it is to cajole the masses at the present day, it can 
well be imagined that it was much easier two thousand 
years ago. Hence the writings of the Apostles were 
laughed at, and made the subject of all manner of 
ridicule. Besides, evidence was not so carefully analyzed 
then as now. Dreams were related as establishing 
a positive proof of some mysterious occurrence, while 
an actual transaction would be proved by the incredulous 
to be a dream. It is not the purpose of this writing to 
charge the literary men of old with duplicity, but rather 
to call attention to what was undoubtedly a fact. It 
took more courage in those days for a man to express 
his individual thoughts than it does at the present day. 
The crucifixion of Christ was evidence enough to show 
the danger of daring to oppose the Roman empire in 
any way. It would appear as if Christ answered all the 
questions of “why” that could be reasonably asked. 


40 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

Both the Romans and the Israelites showed how in¬ 
credulous a man can be if questions are not answered 
satisfactorily to the one who asks them. A man seldom 
gets the good will of another by disputing him. There 
is plenty of recorded evidence that Christians even could 
not understand why God permitted the Roman empire 
to exist after displaying His power through Christ 
to perform miracles. It is a very logical query from 
a human standpoint; but it is just as logical to question 
the principle of liberty or free will if the individual 
action was controlled from the outside, while the respon¬ 
sibility for the act remained inside. 

Now, with two distinct principles of government, one 
spiritual and the other physical, it should be clear to a 
thoughtful mind, that it was just as possible for the 
Roman empire to exist in its wickedness as a nation, as 
for the individual. Without liberty there would be 
no possible necessity for the physical body. 

The Roman empire was strictly a physical govern¬ 
ment, while Christ taught the infinite existence of 
spiritual government, that in comparison the Roman 
empire was a mere plaything. It would be a disrespect 
to the intelligence of the present age to call attention 
to passages of scripture that fully explain the relations 
of a physical government to the spiritual. Christ’s 
teachings were to impress the power of God upon the in¬ 
dividual mind; hence it is quite probable that individuals 
existed in great numbers who fully believed in God and 
were willing to trust Him, but the disease upon society 
— the Roman empire — would require time to cure, 
in precisely the same manner as the physical disease of 
an individual. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


41 


The only error of the ancient writers who did not 
possess the courage of their convictions was, they tried 
to hide the disease by their literary ability. Besides, 
like authors, and even preachers of the present day, the 
heroes of old thought they enjoyed popularity more 
than they would if they had told the truth. It might 
be well to observe at this point that it is a very simple 
matter to tell the truth, compared to the immense 
ability required to hide it. 

The unit of humanity was the one great feature 
of Christianity; it preserved the Scriptures for three 
hundred years, scattered among the people, and trans¬ 
mitted from father to son; and with all the physical 
force and mental ingenuity, the harmony existing be¬ 
tween the early Christians could not be interrupted. 
The Roman empire’s relation to society was precisely 
what the body is to the individual. 


CHAPTER IV. 

TN the silent hours of the darkness, man — the unit of 
humanity — communes with himself. It is the very 
spirit of “prayer.” He is tempted by some desire 
to gratify his ambition; he may want to do something 
that appears unjust toward some other man; he asks the 
advise of others, when he is referred to some man of 
great prominence, who explains the whole principle 
of aristocracy, and tries to convince him that inferior 
beings are mere wards (the modern word for slave.) 
He tries to convince him that an ignorant man’s duty 


42 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACYT 


is to be obedient to his superiors, who are privileged to 
profit by a condition of ignorance. He will show by an 
elaborate diagnosis of the brain that ignorance is a con¬ 
dition of depravity. He will quote Aristotle until a man 
would forget he was human. With such advice the 
man has yet to decide by his own silent meditation 
whether he will serve the “flesh or the spirit.” He 
must decide whether he will be a subject, or a man, 
for his future depends upon it. 

What the thoughts of the Roman emperor were after 
three hundred years of Christianity, one can only con¬ 
jecture from reading history. It is certainly an in¬ 
dividual privilege. At this day it is quite evident he 
was a mere unit of humanity, the same as we all are, and 
to anyone who might desire a more minute diagnosis of 
his disease, he will find it in histories to his heart’s con¬ 
tent. As a stroke of policy, no doubt, derived from the 
contemplations of his silent thoughts he adopted Christ¬ 
ianity, it added nothing to the spirit of Christianity, but 
it was a great stride for civilization. He is entitled to 
that credit even if he was too ignorant to know what he 
was doing. 

The best selections of the Scriptures were compiled 
into a body and the Bible was established. It is not at 
all pertinent to Christianity whether all the Scriptures 
were embodied or not, for the spirit was in it, but 
to express it in a strict literal sense. The Bible reflects 
the Holy Spirit, while the human labor in its production 
was strictly art. The law of Moses and the teaching of 
Christ were instilled into the mind of man; it did not 
depend upon literal writings or minute exactness. The 
teachings were as indestructible as the power of God. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


43 


It was the immutable transmission of “The Law” from 
Abraham through his line of descendants that made the 
Bible what it is—the very law of God. The diversity 
of language and literal methods of producing books are 
art, a medium of improvement by which the “ word of 
God ” may be conveyed to every unit of humanity. 

Constantine will always be one of the great figures of 
civilization. If he adopted Christianity with a sincere 
motive, he deserves to be classed with Moses, and a fol¬ 
lower of Christ. It is the privilege of any unit of hu¬ 
manity to read history and determine for himself. One 
unit at least has an opinion and will state it regardless of 
the opinion of any other. Now the principle of aris¬ 
tocracy, or a privileged class of society, was older than 
Moses. The migration of the Israelites was a distinct 
rebuke to the existence of a privileged society. They 
also became vain because they felt they were a privi¬ 
leged nation to impose upon all other nations, who were 
stigmatized as idolators and barbarians. The Jews were 
destroyed as a nation by their own conceit, and even 
Christ failed to convince them of their folly, for he 
preached universal salvation and the individual privilege 
to obtain it. Constantine as an individual availed him¬ 
self of the privilege and for a brief moment he may have 
felt the “joy and gladness” of Christianity. As an 
emperor, however, he became one of the most prominent 
hypocrites that history records. He established all the 
worst propositions that Christianity has had to, contend 
with to this day. He established Christian Aristocracy, 
“church and state,” the “divine right of kings,” the 
“survival of the fittest,” “natural depravity” and be¬ 
sides a great many “stumbling blocks” that had the 


44 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


effect to confound the learned, and encourage the human 
desire for self indulgence. He tried to set up a physical 
condition arrayed in magnificent garments and dedicated 
to the glory of God in the name of Christianity. It had 
a wonderful effect upon the subjects of Rome. It is 
easy to find worshippers of a temporal power. Christ 
explained it all in a simple manner, but after the advent 
of the Bible it was discovered by all the great philoso¬ 
phers, “ that it required a vast amount of interpretation, 
and in no sense was it ever intended for distribution 
among the common people.” Why, only a few people 
could read when the Bible was compiled. It was a 
reasonable conclusion that it was only intended for the 
clergy. (The benefit of clergy at the period of Con¬ 
stantine was bestowed upon all who could read). If a 
man had dared to suggest a mere prediction, at that 
time, of the present age, he would have been fed to wild 
beasts. 

There is no question but that Constantine planted the 
seed of civilization when he compiled the Bible, but he 
had no idea of it, for his thoughts were entirely devoted 
to the glory of the Roman Empire. He could have jus¬ 
tified himself by reasoning that he was the very “elect ” 
to work the will of God. 

The fact that the clergy were exempt from civil pro¬ 
secution goes to show with what reverence a man was 
treated who could read. Every known condition of 
Nature was analyzed by philosophers to discover causa¬ 
tion. The common desire of man to monopolize what¬ 
ever he discovered is revealed in the intricate formulas of 
written language. No effort was made to simplify any 
system by which the toiling masses could obtain educa- 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


45 


tion enough to even read the Bible. The tillers of the 
soil were considered mere cattle, and it was compara¬ 
tively easy to justify temporal authority. Governments 
lost their earlier significance of protection, and became 
moral instructors. The slave class was taught orally 
that the “wrath of God” was to be feared, and only 
obedient servants could escape the terrible vengeance 
that was dealt out to all who were stubborn and resentful. 
In fact the most horrible pictures that art could suggest 
were shown to slaves in the effort to hold them in sub¬ 
jection. It was no doubt fully realized by the learned 
men that the slaves and the ignorant masses possessed 
the physical power of authority, while the more learned 
were in control of the spiritual power. In theory it 
could be made to appear as correct reasoning, but from 
a Christian standpoint it was entirely wrong. To read 
all theories that were devised to hide the “ Truth ” would 
exhaust the physical condition of man until he would 
become a bodily wreck. 

Theories and commentaries of the Bible were estab¬ 
lished for the sole purpose of justifying the principle of 
slavery. Such laborious exertions would never have 
been performed for the mere conversion of “ignorant 
man,” when the fact was so apparent that he was needed 
to perform the necessary toil to maintain a condition of 
luxury, and the most wanton vice that the desire of man 
could crave. 

The science of logic was extensively studied by the 
prominent Greeks and Romans, and no method was 
more successful than to build a theoretic structure in 
accord with the physical desire, and afterward concoct a 
foundation of sufficient strength to sustain it. Then by 


4 6 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

reasoning from the premise the desired conclusion could 
be logically reached. It took immense talent to so an¬ 
alyze a lie that it could be converted into a truth. But 
the “great heroes of learning” in the early days of the 
Bible became intellectual giants from a laborious exercise 
of their minds, to establish a permanent aristocracy. 
Constantine and his advisers (the clergy who could read) 
were the first to suggest a systematic condition of politics 
to secure greater stability of a temporal power. While 
these ideas are pure conjecture of a single mind, ancient 
histories are the literal authorities of such thoughts. It 
is very important in the consideration of these immediate 
ideas to give them careful attention, for they are the 
central features of this whole writing, and are to some ex¬ 
tent a premonition of what is to come. 

There are two very distinct powers of a governing 
character, one is spiritual and the other is temporal, or 
if you prefer other words, the former is from God, the 
latter is derived from art, the privilege of man. There 
are a great number of words that practically express the 
same ideas, such as right and wrong, light and darkness, 
Nature and art; in fact there seems to be a positive and 
negative character to all words. 

The council at Nice was the most important political 
gathering that has ever taken place on earth. Its main 
object was to attempt, at least, to harmonize spiritual and 
temporal conditions. The most ignorant Christian, even 
if he could not read, could have told them they were 
trying to accomplish something that was impossible. 
But the power of politics was embraced with joy, and re¬ 
gardless of the intellectual giants that composed that 
council, not one dared, even if he had a clear conviction 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 4/ 

of a spiritual government, to assert its individual charac¬ 
ter, and in no sense a dependent upon politics. 

The Bible clearly demonstrates the difference between 
the spiritual and a temporal government, but man’s de¬ 
sire is his first consideration. The prevailing desire of 
the council of Nice was to preserve and perpetuate the 
Roman Empire. Hence the principle of politics was in¬ 
augurated as the most powerful agent to compete with 
the power of God. They had discovered a method to 
sugar-coat a lie so a man could swallow it without its 
affecting the conscience. 

The universal character of religion was a dense mystery 
to the clergy of that day, for a man had no idea it ex¬ 
isted in the wildest savage While it may have been 
recognized by many of the scholars and philosophers of 
the day that civilization was the end in view, it was the 
Roman Empire that was considered the means to such 
an end. 

The teachings of Christ and the persistent preaching 
of his followers was more feared than the “wrath of 
God.” The great mass of the people had received 
Christianity in a traditional manner in the absence of the 
ability to read, and the very limited means of literal 
records. It was the existence of sacred script that dis¬ 
turbed the power of Rome; they no doubt became ex¬ 
tensively copied and also quoted by Roman scholars. It 
was impossible to destroy them, for anything of a written 
character would be hidden by the most ignorant, and 
worshipped as something sacred. 

The compiling of the Bible to preserve a temporal 
power was undoubtedly the motive of Constantine, and 
the political council of Nice, to decide what script should 


48 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

be embodied; it was planting a seed for civilization that 
none of them dreamed they were doing. It was in¬ 
tended to preserve the Bible in such a manner that none 
but the highest officials could more than look at the 
cover. The effort was as futile as to try to preserve a 
spark of fire in a powder magazine. The absurdity of a 
temporal power seeking to exercise an authority over the 
spiritual power, must be apparent to any sincere logician. 
There are thousands of circumstances, that history re¬ 
cords, that are available to any who are interested in the 
study of the early struggle of Christianity. Present 
conditions are the best possible evidence that sincere 
Christians were numerous in the early days, even among 
those who were unable to read. The principle of tra¬ 
dition was just as reliable as written records, and the 
purity of the Bible was better guarded than any tem¬ 
poral jurisdiction that the power of Rome could exert 
over it, but the compiling of it established a nucleus, 
from which future publications were possible. Hence 
the Roman empire was made an instrument of the 
growth of civilization that it was profoundly ignorant of 
at the time of the compiling of the Scriptures. 

The relation of the Catholic Church to the Bible was 
entirely subordinate to the Roman empire, but in a 
spiritual sense the Church was a consistent defender of 
Christianity. Whatever corruption may have existed 
among the clergy, or whatever may be charged to its 
numerous Popes in their personal habits, the Church 
has always maintained its integrity in the most essential 
features of Christianity. Its various tenets and forms 
that have been adopted are more chargeable to the neces¬ 
sity of adhering to whatever temporal power they were 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


49 


subject to. If the Church has been diplomatic as a 
body it has never receded from the essential features of 
Christianity. In practice and precept it has recognized 
the brotherhood of man to such an extent that even the 
most depraved robber or highwayman would hesitate at 
the mere sight of the cross. The Church may even 
affiliate with aristocratic society, it will also affiliate with 
devotion and kindness among the lowest toilers of the 
earth. 

This writing is too general to admit of specific ex¬ 
planation, or answer all the “ whys ” that could un¬ 
doubtedly be conjectured. It is not the accuser of any 
one in his personal right of opinion or private privilege 
to judge himself. Even the most rigid aristocrat may be 
a consistent Christian in his personal conduct, while the 
system, as a class of society, may be deteriorating by 
reason of its ungodliness as a whole. 

Forms of action are human, and consequently art. 
The Catholic Church adopts forms to make its spiritual 
character more apparent to people who are not able to 
read. It is common for an educated person to be gov¬ 
erned by a prejudice before he will take the trouble to 
reason upon a subject of vital importance to himself. 
What ever may be said against the Catholic Church, it was 
more considerate of the plebian class of society than any 
other society in the early days that claimed to be Christ¬ 
ian, and that alone speaks volumes in favor of the spirit 
of the Church. 

The Church is not responsible for the ambition of the 
Roman emperors or their influence upon Church officials. 
Rome tried to use the Church for the same reason that 
it compiled the Bible — for the glory of the empire and 


50 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

its desire for conquest. Hence what is often charged 
to the Church was due to the Empire. The Church 
may have become dormant from the corruption of its 
officials, but it always preserved Christian spirit enough 
to spring into life again. 

It must occur to the thoughtful mind when reading 
the Bible, to notice how simple the teaching of Christi¬ 
anity really is, but after the temporal power of Rome 
undertook to direct the channels of Christ’s teacnings, it 
was for the purpose of conquest and the cultivation of 
warriors and great statesmen. The policy of the states¬ 
men of Rome, after becoming astute politicians, was to 
awe their enemies and frighten their subjects. It was 
purely a political game for the benefit of the politicians 
entirely. If the Church became too spiritual, it was 
soon made secular in its adoption of forms and methods 
of dazzling the “ world ” by introducing the emissaries 
of the Empire. Ignorant people were sooner captivated 
by show than to imitate the workings of Christ. 

The method of teaching Christianity needs more than 
a passing attention. It was wholly conducted upon po¬ 
litical lines, to preserve two extreme conditions — a 
privileged class of society, and natural depravity — such 
premises were absolutely necessary to justify in a logical 
manner the claim of governments to the right of au¬ 
thority, and privilege to command all men belonging to 
an established government, who were called subjects. 
The principle of education was just beginning to make 
learned men look pale and wear a serious expression on 
their features. What were they afraid of ? They were 
afraid of the people if too many were taught to read, 
because if too many should read the Bible it would be- 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 5 I 

come common, when the toilers of the earth would dis¬ 
cover they were compelled to give the cream of their 
product to their masters and be thankful for the privilege 
of receiving enough to keep soul and body together. It 
would have been simple for early teachers to have taught 
the Bible directly from the actual text, or used authenti¬ 
cated copies, which could be compared with the original. 
That may have been considered by the political council 
and declared impractical, by reason of the danger of 
making the laboring class uneasy and negligent of their 
duty toward their masters. 

The Catechism was so arranged as to teach slaves 
frugality, industrious habits, and especially obedience to 
their masters ; all in fear of the wrath of God. It was 
served in the name of Christianity, with an obvious 
purpose of obliterating all traditional stories from the 
East of Christ’s teachings and a just God. The Empire 
held the “ Holy Bible ” in such sacred reverence that 
none but the very “elect” could examine it except 
in the presence of a strong guard. It enabled the clergy, 
who were mere subordinates to the Empire, to pronounce 
all the promiscuous writings that were quoted as scripture 
to be counterfeit. 

It was no doubt discovered at a very early period that 
a person could be taught at the will of the teacher. It 
no doubt gave rise to a sincere belief in the minds of 
men who had been previously taught to obey others, in 
accord with their official position; also that temporal 
powers were guided by the will of God, for the simple 
reason that they existed. Such reasoning, however, 
could be soon exploded by the mere comparison of 
historic periods. But when it is observed that all teach- 


52 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

ing was of an oral character, from a Catechism especially 
prepared by men who were more devoted to being served 
according to their desires than any regard for the servant, 
it can be seen that God was not responsible. 

The very Catechism may have been an instrument in 
the growth of civilization, for no teacher is responsible 
for what he teaches except as it relates to a motive. 

Coercion or undue influence toward a subject at the 
time of the Roman Empire would not be an offence of 
the magnitude it would be at the present day. Of 
course, the very elite that formed the nucleus of future 
aristocracy had special training, it merely shows a motive 
of selfishness that a teacher of any remarkable degree 
of learning could not have been ignorant of. 

Men who would use their entire intellectual ability to 
justify any method of obtaining the necessaries of life 
without performing menial labor, could make no reason¬ 
able claim to having any anxiety of what became of the 
poor laborer after he became worn out with hard work. 
The day is coming when the real producers of the 
necessities of life will demand an explanation of these 
old historical events, and if the aristocracy of the present 
day has been purified, so they can justify themselves in 
living upon the toil of their fellowmen, they will, no 
doubt, have an opportunity to do it. 

How can aristocracy continue to disguise its own 
wickednesss when the real producers can read the daily 
papers, is the problem for modern philosophers to solve. 
No man can disguise the fact, to his own mind, but that 
aristocracy depends upon ignorance and the dogma of 
natural depravity. It is a reasonable supposition to infer 
that laborers would be perfectly willing to reform if they 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


53 


could be relieved of the necessity of earning their own 
living. The Roman Empire had an easy task to hide 
the Bible from the laborers who couldn’t read. It will 
be vastly different in the modern age to suppress the 
liberal circulation of literal intelligence. The day is 
past. Yes! the people can be taught most anything, 
except how to get a living honestly without earning it. 

This writing is not designed to be a mass of charges 
without suggesting any remedy. The remedy will follow 
fully as massive as the charges, and in the same Christian 
spirit. 


CHAPTER V. 


T HE Crusades were remarkable features of the growth 
of civilization. It was rebellion against society in 
the name of Christianity. They were no doubt 
inaugurated from a strong conviction of spiritual duty, 
but the ways of God in His influence upon society, can 
only be appreciated by the individual mind in a careful 
study of history with as little prejudice as possible. 
Prejudice is a muffler to the conscience, it is one of the 
most artful products of art. In the garden of Nature 
there is no such plant, but it thrives in the garden of 
art, for God trusted man with his liberty and bestowed 
a universal privilege on all mankind to plant whatever he 
liked in the garden of art. Every human creature that 
is born, not only possesses the birthright but he knows it 
himself, for the law was transmitted direct from God to 
the individual mind. 


54 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


The very first impression the mind receives is the 
discovery of liberty. But from a human standpoint of 
reasoning God could not have been so unreasonable as 
to give a child the knowledge of liberty without some 
conditions. The parent is responsible until the senses 
are sufficiently developed to perceive the natural danger 
signals that are more intricate to learn than the first 
throb of liberty, but.nevertheless the spirit of liberty is 
the all abiding sense of existence as long as body and 
soul remain in unison. 

The principle of liberty was not only preached by 
Paul, but he lived and died for the principle. It is being 
better understood as people shed the muffler of prejudice 
from their conscience. No one could fully analyze the 
condition of prejudice without having had an experience to 
enlighten him. It is transmitted from parent to child, 
and the very worst feature of a prejudice is, the person 
who possessed it never knew he had it until he got rid 
of it. 

The man who thinks he has no liberty because he 
cannot command others to obey him should reason with 
himself, for nobody is authorized to advise him, and if 
he hasn’t courage enough to defend a condition—liberty 
—that didn’t cost him anything, why, he has the same 
privilege that Esau had, to sell out; but he should never 
grumble unless he can show good cause, of which there 
are only two, disease and deception. If the first, a doctor 
can pull him together again and he will have a new start 
on a sound basis. If he was deceived, and the government 
to whom he is credited is too politically engaged to attend 
to him, his only chance to get together again is to seek a 
good friend, if he can find one. If he falls among 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 55 

thieves, God only will determine whether to trust him 
with liberty again or not. 

It is perfectly idle to contend about the principle of 
liberty in this enlightened age when the teaching and 
life of Paul can be found in the Bible, a book that needs 
no interpreter. Paul also shows how prejudiced he was 
before he changed his name. A little illustration may 
enable a very dull mind to catch this idea: 

Before matches were invented it was quite common to 
borrow fire, but when the borrower discovered that the 
fire would go out unless he had fuel also, the lender 
would draw the lines when asked for fuel to keep the 
fire going. This is analogous to a man finding himself 
the possessor of a physical body with light enough to see 
himself (a borrowed soul) and then demand fuel to keep 
his light going or he would make it pretty lively. Pro¬ 
visos and a multitude of circumstances could be considered 
when the relation of individual liberty to society is 
concerned. What was pertinent to the situation at the 
time of the Roman Empire is embraced in history. The 
Empire claimed a right to regulate the spiritual liberty 
of man by virtue of their temporal or physical power. 
Persecutions aroused the spiritual liberty of the humblest 
subject, for every man who could walk knew that 
privilege was not derived from the Roman Empire. 
They knew they were furnishing the very fuel of exist¬ 
ence to their task masters. But in their primitive 
condition, they acted in accord with what knowledge of 
art they had. The spirit of revenge and vengeance was 
all they were able to comprehend. Fanatical leaders 
were no doubt numerous, who were familiar with the 
teachings of Christ. 


5 6 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

Man is rewarded according to his sincerity, whether 
his light goes out in the innocence of childhood or at a 
good old age. The price of life is death, so far as words 
go, but there is no death in a spiritual sense. We have 
nothing but our senses to protect our physical bodies, 
whether in war or peace. If a man is displeased and 
angry because he was given a light without his individual 
permission, there is plenty of evidence that he has the 
liberty to extinguish it. There is every evidence in 
ancient history that the Romans were wel satisfied with 
their borrowed lights; so well satisfied in fact that they 
tried to extinguish all the lights that refused to submit 
to their authority. 

The question, why God permits war, could be answered 
by asking, why does He permit anything ? The cause 
of war is the struggle between Nature and Art. Nature 
protects the individual who acts upon the defensive, 
while Art, the aggressor, is the instrument of Society. 
Both are subject to the power of God, but being contin¬ 
gencies to the growth of civilization the struggle becomes 
a necessity in the absence of a trust in the power of God. 
Christianity, pure and simple, teaches that a trust in God 
will remove all strife and war from the face of the earth. 
Speaking figuratively, God points to the productiveness 
of the earth through the vision of the mind, and tries to 
convince individual man that he can be happy and 
privileged to choose his own associates, make his own 
selection of locality, not previously occupied, and form 
whatever kind of government he chooses for a protective 
purpose. Show your neighbors, by your treatment of 
them, just how you would like to be treated. The 
trifling condition for all this happiness, with peace 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 5 7 

and plenty, is merely to trust the Giver. You can 
analyze the entire fabric of Nature for purposes of 
improvement, but you will find no flaw in the compact 
between God and man. 

Society discovered the principle of Art and the 
wonderful possibilities of developing the rugged condition 
of the earth. Society became so enthused that it desired 
above all things to have the discovery patented, but in 
the absence of any method of communicating with God 
as a society, they proceeded to resolve themselves 
into a privileged society. .They also became thoroughly 
convinced that the little toy—Art—was for their special 
benefit. They were still more convinced on discovering 
that it enabled them to conquer with ease large bodies 
of human beings living in a primitive state, of the same 
order as the Roman ancestry. Hence, slavery, aristoc¬ 
racy and war became correlative. Human beings were 
so plenty in warm latitudes that it never gave aristocracy 
any concern for the welfare of the slaves. They were 
forced to serve in whatever form that was desired by 
their human masters, even in war they were forced to 
fight each other, when owned by different masters, who 
had discovered that Art was a two-edged sword. Phi¬ 
losophers of the day discovered anything that was a 
convenience to the aristocracy about slaves, they were 
‘‘naturally depraved, savages, barbarians and infidel.” 
The children of the masters were carefully guarded for 
fear they would become contaminated with “ savage ” 
habits. 

The right of defense is as much inborn as the sense 
of sight; even if it is classed “animal instinct,” it is 
no less the privilege of a human being than an animal. 


58 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

If slaves were willing to be tramped upon and whipped 
like cattle without so much as a murmur, a rebellion 
would be impossible, but a tyrant of a master reflects- 
the injustice of slavery by his fear of revolt. Aristocracy 
is just as dependent upon slaves or subjects to command, 
as fire is upon fuel. 

The Crusades were a protest against the tyranny of 
Rome, for the light of Christianity would not go out, even 
after the political effort of the Roman authorities, who- 
were supposed to have locked up the Bible and practically 
destroyed its effect upon Roman subjects. It is the 
reflection upon aristocratic government that made the 
Crusades very significant. It was purely fanatical to- 
attempt to capture Palestine, for it would have accom¬ 
plished nothing in the interest of Christianity; it would 
merely establish another aristocracy. For had the 
fanatical leaders of the Crusades studied the cause of 
the fall of Israel, they must have seen that the wheels- 
of civilization never turn backward. The movement 
had the effect to spread the Scriptures, both in the 
script and oral form; in that particular it had more 
effect upon the spread of Christianity than the reinstating 
of the Israelites. There were no doubt sincere Christ¬ 
ians among all classes of the Romans, but the relation 
of the Scriptures to a temporal government was not 
appreciated, by reason of the Roman interpretation,, 
which was, that only men who could read were privileged 
to explain what the Bible really meant. Nothing but 
actual experience would teach the fallacy of such a 
theory. There were no doubt learned men who sincerely 
believed, like Socrates, that men who could read had a 
just claim to being a privileged class. Hence, it was 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 59 

the education derived from experience that was revealing' 
the power of God, and the brightest lights of intelligence 
had no conception of what the future would unfold. A 
theory is a supposition from which the science of theology 
had its birth, and the craving demand of society to feel 
themselves to be a privileged class as the very elect of 
God, gave an immense field for men who could read and 
write. It was no doubt a source of great profit. 

Sectarianism was the natural result from scholars who 
vied with each other to excel and arrive at some perma¬ 
nent conclusions that would establish an everlasting doc¬ 
trine. It also had another effect that nothing but war 
would settle. Men were so ambitious of becoming lead¬ 
ers that their desires predominated over their judgment. 
The idea derived from the political intrigues formulated 
at the Council of Nice, made it appear that Christianity 
depended upon teaching. Multitudes of men were per¬ 
fectly willing to imitate the disciples, and even make an 
attempt to emulate Christ, for the apparent purpose of 
attracting a following, Hence sects of various denomi¬ 
nations were privately established. They served the 
purpose of God as a medium of agitation ; for if the in¬ 
dividual could not see, by reason of the political dust 
thrown in his eyes, how simple it was to become a Chris¬ 
tian, there was no alternative but to fight and kick untiL 
he could free his natural eyes from the artificial mist. 
It was profitable to leaders and attractive to followers; 
hence religion was treated as a commercial affair. The 
fact that only one method was right was a reasonable 
proof that all were wrong. Still as an agitation of the 
subject they were all right. God’s power being the fun¬ 
damental principle of righteousness, it is possible to see 


6o 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


that even the apparent effort of obstructing a cause 
would often be the very means by which it would be 
brought to light. Hence the people were clamorous for 
war, which was the product of their unwillingness to 
trust God. The Israelites were clamorous for kings be¬ 
cause they became divided into sects from the exhorta¬ 
tions of ambitious leaders, even after God had shown 
them plainly that a trust in Him would make kings un¬ 
necessary. The man who believes in “ natural deprav¬ 
ity ” accepts the necessity of moral training, for even a 
theoretic structure must have a foundation to rest upon. 
Hence in exhorting a multitude the desires of a man 
must be appealed to as an attraction. The motive of 
the teacher is scarcely considered, but it is far more im¬ 
portant than the mere gratification of a physical desire. 
A man would starve to death if he was told he must 
first be educated to a chemical knowledge of whatever 
food he desired to eat. Even Christ could do no more 
than warn man against the duplicity of his own brother. 
The Bible teaches directly to trust no man to lead the 
way to God, for every human being has all the necessary 
knowledge to serve God. Plenty of information can be 
found in the Bible to prove this assertion. It is not the¬ 
ory or theology — it is a fact derived from the experi¬ 
ence of an individual mind. The danger to society in 
the producing of such an individual privilege is con¬ 
founded with the danger to aristocracy or a privileged 
class, which uses the general term “ Society ” as applying 
strictly to themselves. 

The Roman Empire, supported by the clergy as a 
Body, who were coerced into the support of the Empire, 
were determined to control the education of every 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


61 


character in the interest of aristocracy, (incidentally the 
Roman Empire.) The fact that the Church out-lived 
the Roman Empire is proof sufficient that many of the 
individual clergy had more trust in God than they did in 
the Empire. With all the artificial wisdom of the 
Empire, their only success was in consuming themselves 
with trying to put out a fire by turning oil upon it. 
The Crusades and Religious Wars were naturally the 
result of the effort of Rome to monopolize every growth 
of civilization and make the toilers of the earth subjects 
of their power. 

Technical education was extremely exclusive and of a 
very private character; it was only considered for 
purposes of State or Church—both being practically one 
during the period of the Roman Empire. Hence, it was 
moral teaching only that was in any way public. Such 
teaching was more to cultivate the mind to a strict obe¬ 
dience to the Church than to enlighten the people upon 
their duty toward God. The people were taught that 
salvation, (cure water, as free as sunlight), could only be 
had by the intervention of the Church. While this 
method of teaching may have been in accord with minds 
previously prejudiced, it was in line with the growth of 
civilization. The most devout Christian cannot be ex¬ 
pected to act in advance of his knowledge; thus it is 
with no purpose to cast a reflection upon any teacher of 
morality in regard to his sincerity. It is the reflection 
of ancient aristocracy upon the present that this writing 
is concerned with. It is the individual privilege to deter¬ 
mine whether he is serving God or man, and he has got 
the Bible to prove it. The Romans believed they had a 
right to imprison, or even execute a subject for refusing 


62 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


to believe what the Church taught. The relation of aris¬ 
tocracy to general society was determined by the 
politicians of Rome. They introduced both politics and 
public education into the world. 

We have great interest in the virtue of the parent, but 
no use for the vice. People speak vaguely of society as 
representing an exclusive class, also the term education is 
used in like manner; it implies one person is educated 
while another is ignorant. These purely formal expres¬ 
sions are the inheritance from Rome, for while the 
Romans committed national suicide they left all their 
old “toggery” to posterity. 

A man who demands an obedience must first prove 
his authority before such authority can be considered 
as logical. The Church claimed its ethical knowledge 
from God by reason of a more cultivated knowledge of 
everything pertaining to life or sociology. Its authority 
to command obedience to whatever was taught was 
derived from the Roman Empire, thus it became law of 
an artful character, it was so positively asserted that 
the entire human race were as children to a parent; 
it mattered not whether the children were Roman or 
aboriginal. The Catholic Church, as the universal 
Church, covers the entire earth sentimentally, but author¬ 
itatively only where a temporal government furnishes 
protection. Hence, the Catholic Church regardless of 
the errors of its many officials enjoys a position of con¬ 
sistency that no other church can possibly obtain. As 
a Church it gives no recognition to a privileged class of 
society; the high and low are treated in like manner 
to the treatment that Christ showed to all mankind. 
The relation of the Catholic Church to temporal 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


63 


governments will be carefully considered later. 

Education is embraced in the two conditions of life 
—Nature and Art—it is either natural or artificial. It is 
artificial to serve a human purpose, it is natural to serve 
the purpose of God. Nature is the model of Art, as 
Christ is the model for man, and war will cease when Art 
is confined to its own domain, and man realizes that 
Nature’s method of teaching is by individual experience, 
while Art depends wholly upon human theories. Art 
can educate in the field of Art, but Nature is strictly 
the agent of God. The effort to teach Nature the science 
of Art will never be a success. War will continue until 
the people are willing to admit that man is born of God 
and made wicked by Art to serve aristocracy. 


CHAPTER VI. 


HE “ Reformation ” was an event of great importance 



to civilization. It was an intelligent attempt to 


clear the mist of Art from the natural vision of 
humanity. It covered the pages of history with blood, 
for religious wars and individual persecutions were 
entered into on a scale that no previous period had 
experienced. It was the same contention in a different 
form as the Israelites had against the power of God. 
Nothing but experience could suggest a method to re¬ 
move the dust of prejudice from the eyes of men who 
may have been sincere; but viewed from the present 
time by perhaps a prejudiced vision also, the individual 


64 THE degeneracy of aristocracy. 

motive of Luther may be unjustly criticized. If art in 
the hand of man obstructs the natural vision of another 
man so that his sight is impaired from inability to re¬ 
move the obstruction, the responsibility rests with the 
man who throws the dust. Hence it is from the individ¬ 
ual only with a perfect trust in God’s power that he can 
detect a niotive in another. Even then it does not imply 
the right of judgment at the exclusion of being judged. 
When a man assumes infallible judgment he is in rebel¬ 
lion against God, for Christ even did not presume to be 
God. The personal motive of Luther can be left to his 
own conscience, while the effect of the “ Reformation ” 
upon aristocratic society is the main feature to be con¬ 
sidered. 

At no period that history records were the people 
claiming to be “the society” more devoted to opulence 
and luxury than the Roman Empire at the zenith of its 
power. The great prosperity was due to conquest and 
the toil of slaves. The aristocracy had no claim to such 
a privilege of authority except from intellectual superior¬ 
ity. “Society” became too indolent to take any con¬ 
cern about causes and effects. The Church was sup¬ 
ported by the State, and had entire charge of the 
spiritual welfare of society, while the slaves supplied the 
physical needs. All that the favored people had to do 
was to seek mere wanton enjoyment. They were al¬ 
most entirely exempt from prosecution, for civil law was 
directed more against the slaves and tradesmen than in¬ 
dolent society. Intrigue against the State, however, was 
no respecter of persons ; but a government that recog¬ 
nized aristocracy to the extent of permitting its adher¬ 
ents a licentiousness that satisfied every desire, had 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 65 

little to fear from the privileged class. It was prac¬ 
tically the governing class, and individually considered, 
they were too indolent to engage in conspiracy. The 
Church officials were too thankful for the luxury of life 
to any more than learn the formalities of religion which 
were embraced in very solemn display. That indolent i 
will breed contempt was fully illustrated in Roman soci¬ 
ety, and also shared by the Churcti officials. This did 
not change the spiritual character of the Church, for 
wickedness was entirely confined to its human character. 
It led to the sale of “ indulgences,” to the mutual grati¬ 
fication of beings who had previously bargained their 
souls to Satan on the one hand, and consoled by Church 
officials that reserved seats could be obtained in heaven 
in proportion to the amount of money paid for them. 
Wantonness was the natural result of an exclusive privi¬ 
lege of which the Church was in no sense responsible. 
Luther’s courage of conviction was a reasonable conclu¬ 
sion that individual man clung to the spiritual condition 
of both the Bible and the Church. The fear of physical 
danger no doubt deterred many from proclaiming their 
individual convictions. Hence Luther became one of 
the heroes of civilization, even if he did not fully realize 
the correct relation of the individual to society. His 
action reflected the wisdom of God, when the Israelites 
persisted in preferring to be ruled by kings, because 
their faith was subordinate to their fear. 

Moral suasion had very little effect in the presence of 
so much licentiousness in high places. Luther could 
well be forgiven for adhering to the dogma of “ natural 
depravity,” for it could well be believed that even Satan 
was surprised at the success of his own influence. 


66 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


What is termed “the wrath of God ” would seem to 
be a mere figure of speech from a standpoint of human 
observation. It is very unreasonable, however, to think 
that it was even possible for God to get angry, or that 
Satan had the power to overrule him. If the miracles 
were viewed as an illustration of the power of God rather 
than to accept the interpretation of Satan that they were 
supernatural events, it would have cleared the theological 
atmosphere even in the time of Luther. The cunning 
of Satan was never better displayed than at the Council 
of Nice when he suggested a political method to over¬ 
come the growing influence of Christ (for all temporal 
powers have feared the populace more than they feared 
God.) It could never have occurred to the shrewdest 
politician without the suggestion from Satan to arrange 
a method of human agency between God and Nature. 
The Synagogue and the Church were identical in their 
relation to a temporal power. While Christ condemned 
the former, Satan suggested a method by which the 
Church could embrace the scriptures and elect itself by 
the temporal protection of the state, to be a supernatural 
power to reclaim the entire human race from a condition 
of depravity to be previously proclaimed. 

It was no doubt a great comfort to people who had 
cultivated their wicked desires, to be taught by the 
Church that wickedness was a natural condition permit¬ 
ted on earth but denied in Heaven, an imaginary place 
where the Church had exclusive jurisdiction by reason of 
a treaty entered'into with Satan in the first part and any 
temporal power in the second part. 

To make the treaty impressive, the power of the 
Church was illustrated by burning “heretics” at the stake 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 67 

and claiming it to be the will of God by reason of the 
power of the Church to do it. Luther no doubt thought 
deeply about these horrible conditions, and like Christ be¬ 
fore him and many a true man since, was willing to risk 
his life in the attempt at least to improve the general 
condition of mankind. 

The light of experience was very dim at the time ot 
Luther, for regardless of the claims of prophets or 
prophecies, experience is the only proof that is absolutely 
convincing, and when it is considered that men who had 
even listened to Christ were willing to assist at the 
crucifixion, the fallibility of Luther must be apparent. 
The fact that the Church maintained its identity through 
all the vicissitudes of the Empire is the best proof of its 
spiritual character, for while the invasion from the North 
destroyed the physical power of Rome, the spiritual 
character of the Church preserved it from a common de¬ 
struction with its progenitor. The indestructible char¬ 
acter of both fire and spirit was fully illustrated in the 
destruction of the Roman Empire and its wanton aristoc¬ 
racy ; both starved to death by a dependence upon arti¬ 
ficial protection. The .conqueror was powerless to de¬ 
stroy either fire or spirit; it could destroy all the mag¬ 
nificence of the Church and even the Bible that the Em¬ 
pire had so jealously guarded, but the spirit ingrafted in 
the human mind was indestructible. Art only was de¬ 
stroyed with every vestige of Roman aristocracy. The 
people who had lived in indolence from the toil of slaves 
lost all their “ privileges,’’ and were compelled to serve 
the conquerors themselves. 

The conquerors were physical superiors, but intellect¬ 
ual inferiors. They had the same human appetite, and 


68 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


like the Israelites, no sooner were they elevated to power 
than they imitated all the wanton indolence of Roman 
society. Experience was a dear teacher, but it was no 
doubt recognized by many thoughtful scholars at the 
time, that the power of God was not to be trifled with. 
The sense of fear is a natural privilege, and for a man to 
jeopardize his life or ruthlessly throw it away as a mere 
sacrifice to the “pleasure of God” is an act of wanton 
fanaticism. There is no greater evidence of the disease 
of a man than for him to exhibit his faith in God by de¬ 
fying the wrath of man. The Bible does not teach any 
such duty. In fact it is not faith or trust in God to ex¬ 
pect His protection because a man feels that his physical 
life is devoted to God’s service. One of the most diffi¬ 
cult conditions that a thoughtful mind has to contend with 
is to determine why God permits a good man to be per¬ 
secuted. It is a condition that individual man only is 
accountable for direct to God, from whence he received 
the privilege; a condition that no other unit of humanity 
has the least authority, over. If a man deliberately sac¬ 
rifices his life in the effort to serve God it is the motive 
alone that determines the righteousness of the act. 
Man cannot be accountable to man after physical life 
has ceased. The Bible teaches this principle distinctly, 
but thousands of interpretations have been deduced 
from the Bible to justify the ambition of a leader, and 
the term, “a leader of men” applied to a man is fre¬ 
quently used. It is a very important feature of this 
writing, for scarcely a prejudice (disease) exists in spir¬ 
itual affairs that cannot be directly traced to some 
“ leader of men.” 

Yes ! society would be a rmtley crowd, fighting like 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 69 

wild animals to find the best pastures to graze in, but 
for a leader. Even brutes are guided by a leader, hence 
human society is dependent upon a leader, while the 
units of humanity depend upon oral methods of intel¬ 
lectual commerce.. The leader, however, is responsible 
to God for his motive, and sooner or later has to render 
his account. A leader is also judged by his followers, 
who will not be deceived continually. The disposition 
of men to grow applies to evil as well as good; thus a 
man who is first a simple guide grows to be a leader. 
If he has self control to avoid conceit he will lead for 
the general benefit of all, but if he begins to feel that 
he has special privileges from God he elects himself to 
be a master, when he not only leads but commands obe¬ 
dience, which practically changes his followers to a con¬ 
dition of subjects. He feels so satisfied that God has 
chosen him to be a great man that he becomes a tyrant, 
and his subjects are compelled to be slaves, because they 
have no conception of how to prevent it. 

The downfall of the Roman Empire did not destroy 
the disposition of society to lead an indolent life and 
claim a privilege to own slaves and command them like 
cattle, for physical requirements demand physical labor. 
Therefore as a matter of policy, the Church conformed to 
a physical condition it was powerless to prevent. The 
persecutions at the command of the Church were a mat- 
ter of policy to protect the indolent character of society; 
it was a mutual agreement between the Church and 
society, for neither could tolerate any interference by 
the ignorant masses. Whatever theories might be ad¬ 
vanced by scholars with honest convictions that would 
enlighten the slaves, would immediately be condemned. 


70 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


Nothing could be taught but obedience to the Church ; 
for to teach that every unit of humanity was only ac¬ 
countable to God direct would not only destroy the 
profit of the Church, but it would make the slaves 
indifferent to earning more than enough to support 
themselves. Aristocracy is just as dependent upon 
ignorance for existence as a tree is upon its roots, and 
to reverse the conditions, the roots are not dependent 
for they will sprout again after the tree is cut down. 

A desire is always the father of the method to gratify 
the desire. Hence, all the great philosophers in ancient 
times were diligently employed to counteract the teach¬ 
ing of Christ, for it distinctly denied the right of a 
privileged class of society. It could only exist therefore 
by the most ingenious efforts of the greatest scholars. 
The Church endeavored to form a huge intelligent 
“trust” that would monopolize education, both moral 
and secular, for the sole purpose of protecting an indolent 
class of society. The enmity felt toward Luther for 
daring to oppose the authority of the Church was intense. 
Men who were profiting by the deceit of the Church 
would have no doubt killed Luther at sight, which 
shows plainly how desperate a man can become when 
his pet desires are obstructed. It does not follow, 
.. however, that he was the only man that had discovered 
the duplicity of those who controlled the Church. 

Bravado is a disease, called foolishness, for fear always 
reflects an intellectual conception of danger. It was 
Luther’s privilege to say for himself whether he felt an 
immunity from the wrath of man, in his effort to serve 
God as a benefactor of mankind. If he felt that God 
was particularly preserving him from physical danger. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

he was less brave than those who retained their convic¬ 
tions in silence, with an intelligent comprehension of 
fear. 

The individual character of religion may or may not 
have been understood by Luther. He may have felt, as 
no doubt many do now, that it is a divine command 
to the unit of humanity to declare its convictions 
openly. The influence of the Church must be taken 
into account to arrive at a just conclusion of a religious 
feature so important to the individual. While the in¬ 
dividual has no consistent right to condemn the teaching 
of religious or spiritual obligations, a man would have 
just cause to condemn any method of teaching that 
would declare against his privilege to determine for him¬ 
self what his spiritual obligations were. 

Luther was surrounded with conditions that blinded his 
judgment, regardless of his sincerity to serve God for 
the benefit of mankind. He was no doubt thoroughly 
convinced that some intervening assistance was necessary 
to the salvation of a man’s soul. It is not strange when 
it is realized that he was a victim himself of the political 
effort the Church was making to justify the custom of 
commanding slaves to supply the physical requirements 
of man. A man in his time could well ask, why a 
privileged society was permitted to have so much power. 
The very wickedness that the Church and aristocracy 
displayed was no doubt convincing that they did not exist 
for ornament. Some return at least should be recognized 
as due to the toiling masses for supplying the physical 
needs of aristocracy, and after the dogma of “ natural 
depravity” it reasonably followed that spiritual comfort at 
least should be taught them. 


72 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


God’s ways are mysterious, so far as the future is con¬ 
cerned, and Luther had little to guide him except, no 
doubt, a sincere faith in God’s power. It would seem 
that Luther’s idea was to reform the human officials of 
the Church, for he was Catholic so far as a church was 
concerned. He was too intelligent to think that two 
churches could exist in peace, when each laid claim to 
being “the Church;” besides, no consistent man can 
show that two objects can occupy the same space. In 
theory of course there can be a thousand distinct doc¬ 
trines, all claiming to be the only right one. Luther 
did not seek to establish another church, he would just 
as soon have tried to create another planet. He knew 
that the officials of the Church conspired with the 
officials of society to consort with wickedness. It no 
doubt distressed him to such an extent that he felt it to 
be a Christian duty to denounce the social practices of the 
times. He was not ignorant of the fate of Christ and 
the Apostles, but he chose between the wrath of man and 
a conviction of the power of God. He practically dem¬ 
onstrated the individual character of religion, but having 
no conception of the possibility of universal humanity 
learning to read, he preached the gospel according to 
the light he had. Luther preached religion and faith in 
God, but society could only be reached by the growth of 
civilization. Hence, Luther by his individual faith in 
God planted better than he knew, for while wars and 
persecutions seemed to be aggravated by his example, 
civilization took a great leap. 

It is a rare exception that an indolent or wanton indi¬ 
vidual ever reforms, but when society is considered, 
there is no evidence in history that society, claiming t) 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 73 

be a privileged class, ever reformed. Such society is 
always destroyed as a body by “ reaping what they sowed.” 

The Bible can be interpreted to soothe a man’s con¬ 
science when he becomes so prejudiced that he cannot 
sacrifice his physical desires. Man has plenty of time 
to serve God of his own free will, and also plenty of 
warning, but there is no escape from His power. Indo¬ 
lent society had no interest in the growth of civilization. 
The people who were served by slaves, and all their 
physical desires satisfied, were very angry with Luther 
for merely suggesting the necessity of anything like 
reform. “Privileged society” was the source of author¬ 
ity, and for an individual man to presume that society 
needed reforming, it only excited ridicule; besides it was 
sacrilege of a criminal order to claim that the Church 
needed to be reformed. People who were satisfied with 
their social condition would not listen to any explanation. 
There was no sense, to their minds, in considering the 
spiritual and physical affairs of the Church separately. 

The wars and persecutions incidental to the Reform¬ 
ation were entirely due to the effort of society to prevent 
the growth of civilization. Society had no use for 
improvements, and who cared for the slaves, for they 
could be bought by the ship load, in like manner to the 
purchase of merchandise. It would be worse than 
useless to try and convince a man who had been trained 
to believe he was a privileged character. Besides, 
he performed all the requirements of the Church and he 
would no doubt sharply inquire, who else can call me to 
account ? 

The example of Luther was followed to such an extent 
that numerous doctrinal societies were organized, until 


74 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

such a condition of strife existed that the wonder is 
that the earth did not not become barren of humanity. 
It proved conclusively that nothing but actual experience 
would teach a man that the power of God was greater 
than the artfulness of man. The seed of civilization 
was being sowed among the slaves, for the conquered 
aristocrat was reduced to the condition of a slave when 
his experience opened his eyes to the pretensions of a 
privileged class of society. It was like trying to hide 
fire in a keg of powder, for when a former aristocrat fell 
among slaves, the spirit of rebellion was encouraged 
among his associates, and they were ready to follow any 
leader that had courage enough to assert himself. 


CHAPTER VII. 

T HE two great events of the fifteenth century were 
the development of the printing press and the dis¬ 
covery of America. Both of these events were to 
play an important part in the progress of civilization. 
The art of printing was not appreciated at the time as 
having any particular relation to the social condition of 
mankind, and was doubtless more attractive from a com¬ 
mercial standpoint than from its civilizing influence. 
The people had no idea of its possibilities in the distribu¬ 
tion of literature, and no philosophy other than the 
teaching of Christ conveyed any hint of improving the 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 75. 

social condition of the world. Authority was maintained 
by the sword, while aristocracy was fed by the laborer, 
who was a slave to the artificial power of superior 
intelligence. Commercial greed and the desire to in¬ 
dulge the appetite were more interesting to the cultivated 
classes than any reformation in the interest of the 
toiling masses. Christianity was embraced by the 
aristocracy to justify their claim to being a privileged 
class, while the natural intelligence of the individual 
laborer clung to the teaching of Christ as the only hope 
for a release from his task master. Such inconsistency 
derived from the same text, would seem to be about as 
unreasonable as it was possible for literature or any 
form of exhortation to reach. 

Nobility was established by the skillful use of the 
sword, and transmitted to posterity by lineal descent. 
The sword earned the only distinction that aristocracy 
could be based upon, and no literary merit was recognized 
as giving a man a more exalted position than one of 
noble birth. Viewed from the present standpoint, when 
the ignorance of letters would consign a man to the 
lowest level of humanity, its relation to aristocracy is 
very important. Superiority in man is more properly 
based on some merit of a practical character, rather than 
being born a nobleman of the fifteenth century. It was 
the exception that a nobleman or patrician in the “ middle 
ages” could even read, and to fully understand what 
aristocracy really means, it should be traced from its 
source. 

The real producers of food and raiment were factors 
in all the strife and warfare that history records, for 
many brilliant warriors were defeated with arms in their 


j 6 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

hands because they could not get the necessary food to 
sustain their physical strength. Mere laborers, however, 
were not considered of importance enough to hardly give 
them more than a passing notice by the writers of the 
day, from which histories are derived. It was not a 
question of ignorance that consigned a man to the 
“ working class,” because noblemen were as ignorant 
as the laborer or peasant. Yet, if it was a privilege to 
be aristocratic and relieved of the obligation of earning 
a living “by the sweat of the brow,” the tenure of that 
privilege was derived from skill in war. 

Previous to the printing press, and for many centuries 
after, war was the principal method of the making of 
great men prominent enough for the scribe to preserve a 
record of, for the benefit of posterity. Books were 
written and embellished with artistic figures, done entirely 
by hand, to eulogize some great conqueror or king, when 
the person so honored could not read it himself. 
It was prized, however, and no doubt served to preserve 
some important events. 

If we are indebted to war and the terrible carnage of 
the past two thousand years for the present civilization, 
the privilege of aristocracy could be condoned, and the 
numerous monuments, scattered over the world, of great 
conquerors, could well be worshipped. The hero of de¬ 
fence is the only warrior that is worthy of a statue. 
War for conquest or to maintain a supremacy over natural 
man, is what the system of aristocracy is responsible for. 
The system is given all the honor, and the responsibility 
will have to rest with the honor, whether would-be 
aristocrats enjoy it or not. If the records of the past 
could be blotted out, no living person could believe that 


THE DEGENERACl’ OF ARISTOCRACY. 77 

human beings, claiming to be the image of their creator, 
would continue for centuries to butcher each other for 
the mere glory of doing it. 

Classical literature may show great ability as a human 
production, but the greatest works were to eulogize 
tyrants, scarcely less than skillful brigands. While the 
nobleman was ignorant of letters, he was honored by the 
man of letters for his great ability in butchering his 
fellow men. Learned men were the accomplices of 
the ignorant nobles, and they vied with each other in 
depriving the laborer of the fruit of his toil. Noblemen 
quarreled with each other and appealed to the innocent 
peasants with the promise of the spoils of war, when 
the war for glory would begin. The Popes quarreled 
with each other, when there would be no less than six 
all claiming a descent from St. Peter. Kings were de¬ 
throned by their own subjects for refusing to acknowledge 
the lineal descent of the Popes as prior claim to authority 
than the kings had from some noted warrior. Christian 
piety was only found among the toilers of the sod, and 
only for their vigilance, no copy of the Scripture could 
be found for the printing press to scatter to every part 
of the earth. 

In the fifteenth century, no one could distinguish 
between a merchant and a brigand, and warriors could be 
found in plenty who would fight for the ‘‘Infidels” one 
season and for the Christians ” the next. The spoils of 
war were the principle incentive. 

Christians would fight against Christians when profit 
of some character was the only incentive. The wisest 
men of the period had no conception of the possibilities 
of the printing press. Gunpowder and cannon were 


78 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

discovered and used as a means to subjugate the working 
classes and protect the idleness of the aristocracy, while 
the more powerful instrument—the printing press—could 
not be destroyed by the force of gunpowder. Science 
reveals a method of aggression and protection simulta¬ 
neously, but the printing press is an instrument of peace 
more powerful to shatter the system of aristocracy than 
gunpowder is to protect it. Great reforms are slow in 
proportion to their greatness, and the fact that society 
depends upon a government is the best proof that the 
individual is ever ready to take an advantage of his 
neighbor. Nature, the agent of God, however, holds 
the balance of power, and supplies the waste of war in 
excess of its possible destruction. It might well be 
claimed that after two thousand years God had become 
tired of trusting to man to spread the gospel and ac¬ 
knowledge His power. In adopting the harmless little 
instrument—the printing press—it is analogous to the 
little instrument with which David slew Goliath. 

It would be idle for any one to attempt to dispute the 
numerous teachers of Christianity who are more devoted 
to sustaining a declining aristocracy than spreading the 
scriptures. There is material enough to supply the in¬ 
dividual reader for two thousand years more. A man 
needs only to inform himself by observation to learn 
that the working man is reading, and the dullest reader 
knows enough to discover that he has no need of em¬ 
ploying anyone to explain to him the meaning of what 
he reads. He would like, however, to have it explained 
to him why his anxious teacher could exist in luxury, 
while he, not unwilling to work, must see his children 
suffering for food. The inconsistency of a poor man de- 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


79 


prived of an opportunity of earning a living for himself 
and his family, by a man who claims to be born with a 
privilege to live in idleness, is too glaring for the twen¬ 
tieth century. 

When the fact that religion is as free as waste printed 
paper scattered all over the world, no man will be 
obliged to starve his children to obtain it. Selfishness 
is just as much a contingent of the working man as 
either the aristocrat or plutocrat; whatever is profitable 
will be readily discerned, while it will require a long dis¬ 
course to convince a man that he should sacrifice his 
profit. 

The aristocrat will never voluntarily surrender his 
profit, and the plutocrat will pay liberally for an inter¬ 
pretation of the Scriptures that will justify the obtaining 
of the largest profit with the least effort. Now the 
working man is not particular about paying for a special 
interpretation that consigns him to drudgery. He would 
he willing, however, to pay for any instruction how to 
•obtain a living without labor, provided he was not obliged 
to pay in advance. 

The printing press, like the Scriptures, came as the 
friend of the working man, and when its real merit was 
fully discovered by men who supposed they had 
a monopoly of the interpretation of the Scriptures, press 
and product were destroyed to such an extent that it was 
as dangerous to be caught using it, as to counterfeit bills 
at the present time. It is not strange, therefore, that 
civilization moves along so slow when history reveals the 
fact, without exception, that the expounders of the 
Bible and the whole patrician class used their entire 
power to destroy or obstruct anything progressive. Civ- 


So 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


ilization is pushed ahead rather than pulled by men who 
are always ready to proclaim the event after it occurs. 

Ancient history in the original books is written in a 
style to promote the system of aristocracy rather than 
to expose the injustice practiced toward natural man. It is 
a rare exception for a man who discovers any special ability 
to attract public attention to conduct himself in a simple 
Christian manner. Vanity and conceit, ingrafted into 
the human frame by public notice or applaud, has slain 
more men than the sword. Christ and the Apostles 
gave no evidence in their preaching or writings of being' 
exalted above the humblest who could express his trust 
in God, however crude the manner. Ancient historians 
suggest the idea that none but the most exalted in lite¬ 
rary learning will ever read their writings. In the 
march of progress the historian has failed to recognize 
the “reading age.” It can be vouched for that common 
laborers who make no effort to parade their ability can 
recite more classic literature from memory than the ave¬ 
rage college graduate. Is it strange, therefore, that his¬ 
torians and men who claim a special privilege to monopo¬ 
lize literary product would denounce such an instrument 
as a printing press ? 

Natural man is ver.y credulous and can be easily taught 
obedience by the display of pomp and formality, but the 
teaching of servants and subjects how to read was con¬ 
sidered criminal. The aristocrat writes his own obituary 
when he claims that it is dangerous to permit the com¬ 
mon people to read, for it makes workmen rebellious, 
when they become “ lazy and disrespectful to their su¬ 
periors,” The aristocrat would find plenty of men to 
agree with his opinion, but could he show any reason 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 8 1 

why a man that tills the soil should be deprived of the 
privilege to read, any more than himself. He could not 
find any passage of Scripture that excluded anyone from 
reading the Bible. 

Previous to the reading era, the Bible was a great con¬ 
venience in subjugating the peasantry and mystifying 
the religious spirit that the most ignorant individual 
gives evidence of possessing. The printing of the Bible 
marks the era of the Reformation, also the scattering of 
sectarianism, and an ever growing multitude of doctrines 
to confound the simple intelligence of the working people. 

The Catholic Church was the dominating power of the 
system of aristocracy. Its numerous bishops were 
shrewd if not always consistent, for they showed dis¬ 
tinctly that one church was as vital to the spiritual 
character of religion as one God. The fact remains, 
however, that the reading of the Bible was secondary to 
the obedience to the Church. It was the one power 
that claimed universal humanity to be subject. No 
person would be recognized as a Christian who refused 
to obey the “Papal Bull” and perform whatever penance 
that was prescribed by the Church; an absolute refusal 
would brand an individual as a heretic or infidel. 

The spiritual character of the Church is unconquerable, 
but the political character was human, and no body of 
men ever existed that understood their own power better 
than the bishops of Rome. Kings were made and un¬ 
made, while the masses were simply dazzled by the pomp 
and display of the formality of the human officials. It 
was the most effective method known to keep the 
masses in subjection and protect the aristocracy of 
Europe. 


82 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


The advent of Luther and the printing press forced 
the bishops of Rome to show they were not guided by a 
-Christian spirit. Aristocracy depended upon servants, 
either slaves or subjects, and it taxed the intellectual 
power of the Protestant clergy as well as the Catholic, to 
harmonize the inconsistency of aristocracy and Chris¬ 
tianity. Doctrines being the principal feature of the Re¬ 
formation it had the effect to encourage the ambitious 
individual to declare himself to be a teacher or leader. 
His right was founded upon the natural spirit of individ¬ 
ual liberty, revealed to every unit of humanity who has 
power of mind sufficient to realize his own existence. 
His five senses are not taught to him, and he cannot 
possess them without knowing it, hence doctrines are 
the privilege of any person to formulate and expound, 
either written or oral; but when authority is exercised to 
compel another to acknowledge or submit to it, the 
practice is unchristian. It is just as much the privilege 
of a man to refuse to be guided by doctrines, as for a man 
to expound them. It was not Christian light that 
prompted the numerous doctrines to spring into being, 
but instead, it was the darkness of human tyranny. 
Individual Protestants, as well as Catholics, existed in 
vast numbers who were doubtless sincere, but both 
systems were aristocratic and tyrannical as regards 
church government. 

The persecutions of the Catholics and the counter 
persecutions of the Protestants, together with the learned 
ability hurling vengeance at each other, was a revelation 
to the working masses. It could well be assumed that 
the toiling masses discovered by the light of their silent 
thoughts that they were the prey the giants of doctrines 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 83 

were quarreling over. The privilege to save the souls 
of the ignorant masses was too profitable to be surren¬ 
dered without a struggle, which led to wars and instru¬ 
ments of torture that could hardly be believed at the 
present time but for the evidence of history. 

The light of Christianity was revealed to the masses 
from a more peaceful instrument than the one of tortuse 
or the teaching of doctrines. The poor people were learn¬ 
ing to read, and the Bible was printed—it developed the 
spirit of liberty to an extent that neither gunpowder nor 
aristocracy could subdue. The individual discovered he 
could read the Bible himself, it was found that Christianity 
was an individual affair, and the Scriptures explained its 
own text in a convincing manner far more explicit than 
any self elected expounder has succeeded in doing since 
they were written. No man who can read is so dull in 
understanding but that he can settle the disputes over 
doctrines. The shock to aristocracy must have been 
severe, when it was discovered that the peasants and 
working people were reading the Bible and discovering 
how simple Christianity really was. Its individual 
character will scarcely be admitted by men who are con¬ 
tending over articles of faith—the “ Trinity ” and tran- 
substantiation. But the fact will remain, however, that 
the life of Christ was written by unscholarly men in such 
a simple manner that the commonest mortal can under¬ 
stand that religion is free. The aristocracy and 
■“ privileged ” teachers can contend over doctrines and 
articles of faith until they wear themselves out. It does 
not concern the individual when he discovers he can get 
Christianity from the Bible in its purity, without wading 
through a swamp of doctrines. 


84 THE degeneracy of aristocracy. 

There is a bond of unity in the entire human race that 
the five senses convey to every unit comprising it. No 
unit can dispute it and prove the assertion by example. 
If anyone ever received a special privilege to command 
obedience and involuntary servitude from another, the 
wars of the past two thousand years show that he has 
not been able to convince his opponent, who claims an 
equal privilege to defend himself. 

Christianity teaches peace and social harmony; the 
Bible needs no interpreter, the key to it is a knowledge 
of the art of reading. 


CHAPTER VIII 

I T is the individual privilege to determine what liberty 
really means, as related to oneself. No greater dis¬ 
covery was ever made by man than the discovery of 
himself. He could see himself, could move himself 
about, and hear himself laugh. He meets his counter¬ 
part who manages to explain to him that they belong to 
a great tall man that has arms, legs and eyes, just the 
same as they have. The great man teaches them to 
read and then tells them they must be obedient to him 
and they will grow and be as big as he himself. An¬ 
other man tells them we all belong to a King who makes 
us work and fight, whichever he desires, but we all hope 
to be free sometime and exercise our liberty as well as 
the king, who we believe has no more liberty than our¬ 
selves. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 85 

Liberty is a revelation to the human mind, and as 
long as the individual is conscious of his own existence, 
he is also conscious of his liberty. Specific liberty has 
been artfully taught, to obtain a service and sustain 
aristocracy. The social problem has been the real issue 
for human intelligence to solve, and after two thousand 
years of strife, the giants of intellect are just as unwilling 
to harmonize their ideas, as when the art of letters was 
first discovered. The first great effort was to prevent 
the common people from discovering their physical 
strength, but when the aristocracy began to quarrel 
among themselves, they taught the art of war to the 
peasants, who would have courage at times to fight on 
their own account. Little tc Republics ” would spring 
up and the people were told that all were citizens of 
equal privileges, but politicians, nobles and the Church 
would make short work of the gathering of people who 
gave any demonstration of liberty in an open manner. 
The very word liberty was ridiculed by the aristocracy, 
and yet they lived in constant fear of a revolt of some 
character. Since the common people began to show 
their spirit of liberty, treachery and political intrigue 
among the aristocrats seemed to develop in like 
proportion. 

The wars of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were 
fought to maintain the authority of autocratic kings, and 
the result was the development of democracy and Chris¬ 
tianity, a very discouraging outlook for aristocrats who 
claimed authority to govern by the grace of God. Hu¬ 
man liberty had begun to develop, and when it is fully 
realized how much more intelligence is absorbed by the 
individual mind in silent meditation than can be taught 


86 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


by any artful agency the fate of aristocracy could have 
been revealed. 

Liberty is a common inheritance with intelligence and 
consciousness. The senses convey to the mind these 
conditions, which are strictly individual. There are two 
sources of government, Nature and art, the former is 
from God, the latter is human. That we are so equally 
endowed, the privilege can justly be claimed as individ¬ 
ual, while socially a government is dependent upon art 
and subject to development in proportion to the individ¬ 
ual courage prompted by the spirit of liberty. Aristoc¬ 
racy has no foundation for existence other than art un¬ 
less one chooses to believe that kings derive their privi¬ 
lege from God ; but the spirit of Christianity must be 
denied to make such a claim logical. It is also revealed 
in the Bible, and ancient history is evidence, that religion 
is as free as air or water. 

The strife and persecutions between the Catholics and 
Protestants show that neither, as a body, are prompted 
by a Christian spirit. It does not follow, however, that in¬ 
dividuals, Catholic or Protestant, are not Christians. 
Any society, by reason of numbers or physical force, 
have no reasonable claim to authority over weaker soci¬ 
eties. The fact that liberty and Christianity were both 
developed by the Protestants is no proof that aristocracy 
can claim to be Christian by adopting Protestantism. 
If history teaches anything reliable it shows that aris¬ 
tocracy is the constant opponent of Christianity. The 
disposition of man to rule his followers as soon as he at¬ 
tracts them is* fully illustrated in history. Rulers are 
rarely virtuous enough to resist the temptation to be¬ 
come tyrants, hence when they become too greedy to 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 8 / 

adopt the reforms they teach, the followers take to the 
example more readily than the teaching. The dispo¬ 
sition in man to rule, just as soon as he finds followers 
willing to be ruled, is the best evidence in the world that 
God never inspired him to do it. His success as an 
orator gives him a high standing in society, his peers 
will flatter and applaud him, but with all the art that he 
can command he will fail to make an honest man of him¬ 
self in the sight of God at least. 

Monarchies and aristocracy invite a man, as soon as 
he exhibits any ability that attracts public notice, to 
embrace the system that was organized to oppress the 
working people. Men who spring from the lowest 
walks of life and become great rulers, and figure as as¬ 
tute politicians, are pointed out to show the possibilities 
of cultivation. Even Christianity is profaned by writers 
who applaud such men as “ heroes ” by the grace of God. 
If the Scriptures were found to rebuke the men in high 
places for the oppression of the working men, artful 
intelligence possessed the ability to interpret them in 
justification of their deviltry. Men could betray their 
followers, but failed to convince even the simple minds of 
the peasants, for even they were able to detect the deceit. 

That natural intelligence was superior to the artificial 
had no defenders except in the individual mind. Even 
kings who may have been perfectly aware of their own 
hypocrisy felt secure in their position because the masses 
could not act united in the absence of leaders; hence 
the ease with which leaders could be corrupted seems to 
be a victory for evil over good. If history had been 
carefully considered it could have been noticed that art 
was making no gain as a ruler over the force of Nature. 


88 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


That natural man was at least more Christian than the 
cultivated man is certainly the evidence of history ; the 
very effort to disguise it strengthens the evidence. 

If aristocracy had any just claim to being a privileged 
class, with the authority to rule, history fails to reveal it, 
for democracy steadily developed in about the proportion 
that aristocracy declined. It is no sentiment or theory 
to be taught to the individual reader, for the privilege to 
read was entirely due to individual liberty, and just as 
fast as a man learns the value of his physical strength 
he realizes the right of defence. If aristocracy was a 
divine privilege to convert the masses or the people who 
had no defence except their natural intelligence, it was 
quite evident from history that different nations could 
not agree upon a method. Forms of government were 
experimented with to no purpose. Edicts were pro¬ 
claimed and treaties broken by the autocratic power of a 
single individual. Greed and glory were more in evi¬ 
dence among the aristocracy than morality or any regard 
for human life. If natural man was depraved he could 
wonder at the duplicity of his rulers just as soon as he 
could read. 

Monarchial governments are recorded failures, and 
whatever improvements have taken place among them 
were by virtue of the spirit of liberty and the democratic 
growth of the working class. The example of tyrannical 
rule, and the massacre of men, women and children led 
to mob rule and retaliation. It was the constant fear of 
the masses that produced the slight reforms that kings 
and aristocracy conceded. Humanity is universally dan¬ 
gerous when a specific few endeavor to subjugate the 
many. No one is dependent upon liberty being taught 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 89 

to him, for it is his birthright, and when he reads the 
Bible he discovers he is not accountable to any other 
man for what he knows belongs to himself. No man 
has a just right to claim a privilege of a better under¬ 
standing of the Bible than any other man who can read. 
The tenacity with which men cling to the conditions and 
customs of the period in which they live can be readily 
traced by a reader of history, and is not particularly re¬ 
markable. But the man who admits the growth of civiliza¬ 
tion and still clings to ancient theories betrays a motive 
the reading multitude will sooner or later discern. It 
will be impossible to disguise the motive of aristocratic 
rulers also. The individual reader is not so dull as his 
silence would suggest; and while working people in the 
middle ages could be deceived by men who had no other 
motive than physical desire, can the aristocrat continue 
to disguise it ? Will the working man continue to sur¬ 
render the very cream of his toil in exchange for moral 
instruction? No one can logically deny that all the 
fierce wars of the past were fought for the purpose of 
controlling the food producing man. The aristocrat, or 
a man claiming a privilege to exist by the toil of others 
by virtue of his claim, will not submit to any rulers. 
Hence it is only ignorant men that can be ruled. 

An aristocrat would declare himself to be a Catholic 
or a Protestant, whichever served his purpose best. He 
certainly betrayed sense enough to know he was not a 
Christian. Such a man would defend the teaching of 
morality to the working classes if it included obedience 
to some human master. The effect of the Reformation 
no doubt was a surprise to Luther, for it encouraged 
every man who could exhort or preach to claim that he 


90 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY, 

was inspired to do so. It encouraged the natural spirit 
of liberty and also revealed the freedom of religion, but 
just as soon as a man discovered that he could get a 
better living by preaching than by soiling his hands, his 
spiritual conception became entirely controlled by his- 
physical desire. 

The simplicity of Christianity needed more explicit 
explanation in proportion to his physical desires — it was 
profitable. There were kings, popes and Christian teach¬ 
ers that gave evidence of sincerity in striving to improve 
the working people, but they were so closely connected 
with the aristocracy that they could not stay the current.. 
Aristocracy was both radical and conservative when 
moral reform was considered, but always' united in de- 
ceiving and oppressing the food producing people. Phi¬ 
lanthropy no doubt governed the action of moral teachers 
who would deny themselves in their zeal to comfort the 
misery of the poor struggling people. Sympathy for 
their sufferings had more effect than specific theology.. 
The simple people would believe anything that was- 
taught in a kindly spirit. They were not naturally 
criminal, but being like children they were ready to imi¬ 
tate whatever they noticed their rulers would do with 
impunity. The agitation of moral reform either by am¬ 
bitious teachers or sincere philanthropists gave rise to 
the study of democratic forms of government. The en¬ 
couragement of a hope in future freedom from the 
tyranny of rulers they were forced to serve had the effect 
to inspire fresh exertion. It may have developed greater 
physical strength, but any additional production by the 
working people would be quickly absorbed by the system 
of aristocracy. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 91 

Moral reform was impossible among the aristocracy, 
for the system was not responsible to human authority. 
They being the governing class, their moral conduct 
could not be questioned unless by the church, either 
Catholic or Protestant. A proselyte among the working 4 
people daring to admonish an aristocrat for the most 
glaring immorality, would be severely reprimanded and 
told that it was a privilege, only dangerous when in¬ 
dulged in by low working people. Hence two codes of 
morals seemed to be necessary when humanity was 
divided into two classes as distinct as aristocracy and 
democracy. 

The superficial character of piety was a necessity to 
aristocracy to maintain a respectable appearance. The 
science of wickedness gave an extensive field for the 
development of a theology that would establish an anti¬ 
dote for wickedness, for the aristocratic clergy had to deal 
with the wickedness of a privileged class with the astute¬ 
ness of a politician. It would have been poor policy for 
a clergyman to have attempted to persuade the aristoc¬ 
racy to “go and sin no more,” for he was paid to 
harmonize religion with physical indulgences. 

When literature became an article of commerce, 
authors were obliged to pamper to the tastes of aristoc¬ 
racy. Methods of expression and an ability to describe 
the frivolties of society were considered an evidence of 
profound intelligence. A familiar knowledge of classic 
literature would excuse a man who might indulge in 
physical wickedness. Hence, if moral teachers and the 
book learned were obliged to expose their own conduct 
to the people, the influence would counteract all the 
virtues of their teaching. Nations that were wholly 


92 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


controlled by the aristocractic class endeavored to pro¬ 
hibit free speech and suppress the free circulation of 
literature, besides restricting any system of moral 
teaching that revealed the least hope to the working 
man. The man who could not read could scarcely fail 
to observe that aristocracy was only maintained by 
standing armies. It would seem that a class of humanity 
that required a standing army to protect their immorality, 
were very inconsistent to thank God for the privilege. 

Moral suasion was the only effectual method of improv¬ 
ing the working people, and many an honest man spoke 
words of cheer to the poor peasants, who were scarcely 
able to get bread enough to keep from starving. John 
Wesley was a very striking example of the influence of 
pure Christianity. So long as he preached a strict de¬ 
votion to the teaching of Christ he encouraged a hope 
in the hearts of the working people that tyrants and 
false teachers were not their masters by the grace of 
God. Just as soon however as a method was formulated 
in his name and called Methodism, it gradually became 
aristocratic by assuming to teach a specific method. 
Men of great ability in the time of John Wesley were 
no doubt honest in their compassion for the working 
people, who were often in a starving condition, and when 
they taught a trust in the power of God it was a com¬ 
forter to the misery of the poor. But when a method 
was preached to them including an obedience to human 
tyrants and a cheerful submision to their lot in life, 
because it was the will of God that some should rule and 
others serve, it would tax the ingenuity of the ablest 
teachers to convince them of it. 

The real misery of the working people during the 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 93 

period of aristocracy at the height of its power, can only 
be imagined from meagre historical records, for a man 
who dared to proclaim his sufferings would be hung in 
front of his own door. It was a crime against law and 
order to incite the working class to any method of 
resistance against their rulers, yet the aristocracy would 
rebel and overthrow one form of a government and 
adopt another. The working people however were told 
that it was God’s will, and they must serve the new 
rulers just as faithfully as the old. 

However bitter the enmity would be between factions 
of aristocracy, they would always stop fighting each 
other long enough to put down a rebellion of working 
people, for “rebels, infidels and barbarians” were the 
contempt of the whole aristocracy. Mob rule was con¬ 
sidered an exhibition of ignorant depravity, and it was a 
serious matter if a few panes of glass were broken and 
bread was stolen, but when aristocracy rebelled and 
killed each other to change a dynasty, or subdue a weak 
Republic struggling for a foothold, it was religiously 
called civilized warfare. However mistaken man may 
be in regard to God’s methods, there is no mistake that 
He is the only dependence that the working man can 
rely upon. 


94 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


CHAPTER IX 

E NGLAND was decidedly in the lead as a commercial 
nation at the time of George III, and the march of 
civilization was more noticeable than in other parts 
of the world. It was due more to location than any 
special superiority of the English over the people of 
other nations. Hence, natural advantage is more the 
cause of civilization than any special privilege accorded 
to human faculties. The location develops the charac¬ 
ter of the people more than race quality; besides the 
advent of coal and iron, and the discovery of the steam 
engine were events that England took advantage of. 
The improvements in social conditions were less marked 
than mercantile progress. The addition of a source of 
greater wealth was destructive to the physical growth of 
aristocracy or a privileged class, but the prerogative of a 
specific social structure was entirely due to the monarch- 
ial form of government. The ungodly condition of the 
social misery of the working people is the most decided 
proof that aristocracy was never a divine privilege. That 
any man, however learned, could continue to relish his 
food and endeavor to formulate a theory that a man was 
destined to drudgery by reason of his immoral nature, was 
an inconsistency that he could scarcely be ignorant of. 

The poor of London were driven to unnatural deprav¬ 
ity and criminal practices by the influence of aristocratic 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 95 

•debauchery. The criminal class was recruited from the 
aristocracy itself; it was not composed of the ignorant, 
for it required cultivated ability to become a remarkable 
criminal. That a man will lose all sense of moral 
obligation after being deceived and betrayed by pretend¬ 
ing friends, was very evident in English society. The 
human character that civilization depends upon was 
distinctly shown by the inventive genius of the practical 
mechanic. He was often a man that could scarcely read, 
for the natural character of man is to progress, and im¬ 
proved methods are generally suggested to an operator 
of a machine sooner than a mere observer. 

The study of science was suggested by events after 
they occurred, it had the effect to systematize the law of 
Nature and it was of great assistance to the advancement 
of commerce and mercantile operations. But the con¬ 
dition of society was so corrupt, and the mind of man so 
filled with doctrines to preserve the privileges of aristoc¬ 
racy, that it was a simple matter to rob an inventor of 
any personal benefit from his natural genius. There is 
no evidence to the present day, that seems to be 
convincing to the average man, that the ability to steal 
•does not justify the act. A man is constantly tempted 
by surrounding luxury, and to obtain such a position he 
will sacrifice every moral instinct he was born with. He 
will use his entire ability that superior knowledge gives 
him, to satisfy his personal desire. 

The laws of England were entirely framed to protect 
aristocracy from any necessity of earning their own 
living. A man might invent a steam engine but he could 
not be elevated to the social rank of the aristocracy until 
he abandoned all employment that involved the use of 


96 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

his own faculties. The whole system of aristocracy was 1 
considered to be in danger unless a working man was 
strictly held to an inferior position. Hence, the conflict 
between labor and capital was introduced to the world 
as a constant companion of invention. How to keep- 
capital entirely in the hands of the aristocracy was a. 
problem as difficult as to monopolize Christianity. It 
was very interesting to idle society to observe the in¬ 
tricate details of machinery, and the writers of the day 
would exert their entire talent in describing the machine,, 
but would also express their fear that it would deprive 
poor laborers of the means of getting a living — for to- 
make a machine that would enable one man to do the work 
of ten, was conclusive that nine must necessarily starve 
in consequence. 

Capital is practically the earth, including the forces of 
Nature; the distinctness from the necessity of labor to- 
sustain human life is an evident fact, and it is often 
remarked that necessity is the mother of invention. Man 
has always been noted for his effort to monopolize every 
condition that would furnish wealth or a livelihood with 
the least physical exertion. While it is not strange, 
when liberty or free will is considered, that a man will 
steal and deceive his fellow man to obtain an advantage, 
it is strange that writers will continue to explain that it 
was the will of God for a privileged class of society to 
live at the expense of others’ labor. 

If selfishness is the universal attribute of individual 
man, it is as much a common inheritance as capital, the 
earth and the forces of nature. Admitting that mental 
exertion is labor, it will not justify the authority of 
aristocracy in electing itself to determine the equitable 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 97 

division of what is common capital. If an ingenious 
philosopher can find a reason for discriminating between 
mental labor and physical labor, the millennium will 
have arrived, and the march of civilization will have 
ended. A very ordinary student of history could 
scarcely fail to observe the changed condition of general 
society since the advent of the printing press, even prior 
to the influence of America upon monarchial forms of 
government. The fact that laborers can read is a con¬ 
dition that affects the political situation and compels a 
government to change its method of government in 
accord with the new order of things. It is a question, how¬ 
ever, whether men are sincere in their effort to extend 
the circulation of literature. No sooner does the laborer 
learn to read than the effort to bias the mind appears in 
profusion. Anxiety for his moral welfare appears, he is 
proclaimed a menace to society, and while the greatest 
effort was made to prevent the menial laborer from 
learning to read, the fear that he would discover what his 
human rights were was a severe tax upon the scribes of 
the day. 

A man in the enjoyment of any exalted position will 
, endeavor to teach fatalism to the laborer dependent upon 
drudgery, but if circumstances consign the teacher to a 
condition of menial labor he will soon learn that 
fatalism is a very unjust doctrine. There is no evidence 
in history that aristocratic society ever contemplated 
the elevation of the common people. It has been the 
political puzzle for centuries to learn some method of 
keeping the laborers ignorant of their natural rights. 

The most important language that human beings are 
endowed with is scarcely noticed by men who are 


98 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

contending with their artificial intelligence ; and with the 
unwritten law, both are superior to anything that man 
has invented, for either a commercial purpose or means 
of communication. 

Natural law protects democratic society, from which 
the laborer is largely derived, while aristocracy depends 
upon artificial law that is subject to change as 
civilization progresses. No one could believe the human 
race could be cultivated to a condition of contentment 
without an equal opportunity to become as aristocratic as 
their neighbors, and an isolated community of aristocrats, 
regardless of their cultivated ability, would be as miser¬ 
able as a group of people shipwrecked on a barren island. 
This merely shows that the product of the democratic 
laborer is more necessary than aristocratic cultivation. 

The profound theories that are formulated to an un¬ 
limited extent will not prevent the simple reader from 
exercising his individual thoughts. Silent thoughts are 
like a hidden foe, they can only be imagined ; and now the 
impossibility of preventing the commonest laborer from 
reading the current events of the day, it is very noticeable 
that instructors multiply rapidly. It should be 
carefully noticed, however, that the silent individual has 
a privilege to his personal thoughts, fully as sacred as 
the aristocratic claim to authority. 

Is it possible that any thoughtful student of sociology 
is so blinded by prejudice as to think that reading 
laborers can be convinced that it is their duty to obey a 
class of beings who claim a special privilege to rule, 
from the mere fact of possessing a greater degree of 
artificial intelligence ? 

It cannot be disguised to the most simple minded 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 99 

reader that the most elevated class of society—aristoc¬ 
racy—has always oppressed the food producing laborer. 
There is no evidence in history that superior intellects 
ever succeeded in protecting the principle of aristocracy, 
for it has steadily declined since the advent of the print¬ 
ing press and the development of manufacture and 
commerce. 

Democratic sentiments were so boldly proclaimed and 
scattered broadcast, that the monarchial governments 
forgot their own quarrels to guard against the revolt of 
the working class. The “ Holy Alliance ” was entered 
upon for the sole protection of aristocracy. It was an 
open acknowledgment of the danger to monarchial 
forms of government. It was in vain, however, for 
nothing but concessions toward the common people were 
effective, and every concession marks the decline of 
aristocracy, with a corresponding improvement in a 
nation’s commercial growth. What the outcome will be 
is a speculative question that anyone is privileged to 
consider. 

The march of civilization seems to point toward a 
Democratic form of government, but such a radical 
change would seem impossible but for the fact that great 
changes have taken place, often when least expected. 
Rulers are very tenacious of their powers, and artful 
intelligence will be exhausted before it can be demon¬ 
strated that a democratic government is practical. 
Christianity, liberty and democracy are the forces of 
civilization in conflict with aristocracy, theocracy and 
wickedness. Aristocracy and theocracy are mutually de¬ 
pendent upon each other as a governing principle. To 
enforce the same with any degree of command, it re- 


lofg 


100 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


quires an autocratic system of government protected by 
a standing army, for civilization is a constant menace to 
a class of society that try to justify the privilege to exist 
upon the toil of others. 

A theologian would no doubt dispute the assertion 
that Nature and art embraced the entire condition of 
humanity. Such a dispute, however, would not affect 
the law of Nature or spirit, while the product of art is 
so obvious as to exclude it from the realm of theory even. 
There is no evidence that the force of Nature or spirit 
ever changes, or that any human intellect has ever been 
able to establish any change. All human effort appears 
from the evidence of history to be wholly confined to 
art, and for all practical purposes, both social and moral, 
it would seem to be enough for any man to contend 
with. The individual reader of history can scarcely fail 
to detect the motive that makes the science of theology 
interesting. If it is for the purpose of justifying a favored 
class of society, it is degenerating in proportion to the 
advance of civilization. It has no effect upon religion, 
which was liberated with the printing press, and literature 
is being scattered all over the world like leaves. When 
science or theology devevelops hundreds of methods, 
all claiming to be the only method of serving God, there 
are more wrong than right. Besides, when it is dis¬ 
cerned by the individual that religion is free, he will 
hardly be persuaded to subscribe to any particular 
method to obtain it. 

This writing is not intended to convey the idea that a 
specific society or an individual should be deprived of 
the privilege of proclaiming themselves superior. It is 
the authority they have exercised over the toiling people 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


IOI 


that constitutes Hhe evil. If cultivation or literal at¬ 
tainments have improved the moral conditions of society, 
neither history nor present conditions betray it. Yet 
civilization is marching on, and while wickedness seems 
more prevalent, it is due to the freedom of the press 
and greater publicity. 

The disposition in man to command and become a 
a ruler, is more prominent as his ability becomes evident 
to himself ; besides the eagerness that a man will grasp 
any method to obtain a living without menial toil, makes 
him a victim to any scheme that promises to relieve him 
of his natural responsibilities. His judgment may be 
very clear upon the most profound subjects, but the 
question of how to earn his own living would be deter¬ 
mined by his natural preference to have that duty 
performed for him. 

Aristocracy was the product of art—first it was the 
great warriors that could wield the weapons of art, they 
became convinced by their own prowess that they were 
a privileged class of society. It was magnified to a 
divine privilege at a period when superstitions were about 
the only cultivation that the common people received. 
The early theologians embraced aristocracy and devoted 
their whole energy toward teaching the people an 
obedience to their rulers, who claimed authority direct 
from God. The art of letters and written language was 
appropriated as a divine privilege to more fully impress 
the toiling masses that part of humanity was born to 
rule as a special favor from God. The teachings of 
Christ were a constant rebuke to theologians, and it was 
by them the Bible was hidden in obscurity for three 
hundred years before the more advanced people in 


102 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


social privileges would give any notice to it at all. 

It reflected democratic principles to such a degree 
that it finally awoke the bigotry of the theologians who 
discerned with alarm that it was more forceful to protect 
democracy than the sword was to protect aristocracy. 
After the Book was compiled, the very theologians that 
were severely rebuked by it, changed their method of 
attack by a series of interpretations that have resolved 
into doctrines and societies, so great in number, that no 
one scarcely pretends to numerate them. Yet democracy 
protects the never changing character of the Bible 
the same as it did in the darkest days of its existence. 
Scholars have ever tried to remould the Book to justify 
the claim of aristocracy to being a privileged class of 
society, while the growing ability of democracy to read it 
individually is a new condition that the theologian and 
scholar have got to meet whether they choose to or not. 
No amount of teaching or preaching will disguise from 
the working class that Christ sprung from democratic 
society as unlearned as his followers. Besides, he taught 
universal humanity, and if theologians can so adjust their 
theories as to convince the working man, after he can read 
himself, that he was born to serve his fellow man who 
claims a privilege of existence without work, facts will 
become subordinate to theories. The very light and 
warmth of the sun will be subordinate to artificial intelli¬ 
gence when human authority succeeds in dividing 
humanity into two classes, the one subject to the other. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


03 


CHAPTER X. 

T HE discovery of America stimulated the greed of 
the aristocracy of Europe. It was a new field of 
wealth, and as monarchial governments had always 
protected the landed estates from the least possibility of 
the working class becoming freeholders, it would seem 
to secure to the aristocracy an undisputed right to exist 
by the toil of their fellow men. “ What are you going 
to do about it ?” could have been asked with impunity at 
the period when Columbus discovered America. God’s 
ways are too mysterious for the artificial intelligence of 
man to penetrate, but after an event of great importance 
occurs, wise men will tell us that it was previously re¬ 
vealed to them in a vision. 

If any man two hundred years ago had dared to 
prophesy that America was destined to overthrow 
aristocratic government, he would have been hung at 
his own door post, or more probably burned alive. If a 
man is merely the servant of God it would be well for 
him to consider that he should not serve Satan also. 

Besides discovering America, Columbus discovered 
natural man, and had the learned men of the period 
been less greedy they might have discovered that those 
natural men should have been emulated rather than en¬ 
slaved. The writers of the period, no doubt, were 


104 THE degeneracy of aristocracy 

influenced by the authority of aristocracy, but theologians 
had no excuse for encouraging cruel treatment of those 
natural men that Columbus found in America. The 
geologist also would have been better employed in trying 
to Christianize humanity than to waste his time in 
seeking history from the formation of the earth. 

The natives of America were natural because they 
were ignorant of the progress of art. They were human 
because they were intelligent enough to comprehend art 
and utilize fire. They were model Christians because 
they treated Columbus with kindness. They emulated 
the personality of Christ before they could even speak 
the language of their visitors. 

No one would scarcely believe that God, or Nature 
even, could be so unjust to those innocent human beings, 
to isolate them upon a desolate island for the exclusive 
benefit of Spanish aristocracy. The situation can only 
be considered from the light of history, and it might be 
hoped out of respect for our ancestors that it was grossly 
exaggerated. The wrong cannot be remedied since the 
parties concerned have all rendered their account, but 
its reflection upon the false claim of a privileged class of 
society is an object lesson for present contemplation. 

The adventurers that followed Columbus were scarcely 
less than pirates, but the Spanish government and the 
aristocracy encouraged the piracy, while an effort was 
made to “convert” the native Americans. 

The example of the Spaniards, however, was more 
quickly learned than their precepts, and when they were 
enslaved and forced to cultivate sugar cane, they became 
so efficient in art, that they discovered the knife that 
cut sugar cane would also cut Spaniards. Hence, they 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 105 

were transformed from natural human beings into 
“ savages.” 

When the continent of America was discovered, the 
natives were friendly at first, but after being so grossly 
abused they would kill Europeans at sight. It should 
prove to any but a prejudiced mind that their natural 
disposition being friendly, it was no less strange that 
they could be prodded to anger, than it was for their 
more fortunate brothers who had European advantages. 
There are a great number of American histories that 
endeavor to make heroes out of pirates that invaded 
America in the early days, but it could be claimed that 
the end justified the means. It was certainly no worse 
to butcher the native Americans than it was for 
Europeans to fight each other. The effort in Europe 
to maintain a privileged class of society, who were taught 
that work was vulgar, and that it was a punishment from 
God to be obliged to work, it could scarcely be expected 
that the adventurers would behave any better. But 
there were learned men in Europe who were not igno¬ 
rant of the Bible and how could they interpret it so 
erroneously as to charge all the human wickedness to 
God by reason of his permitting it to occur. The 
individual reading of the Bible cannot possibly be more 
misleading than the scholarly interpretations that are in 
constant dispute. No human being could have been 
more Christian than the native Americans at their first 
meeting with Europeans. 

It was as much a rebuke to the wickedness of the 
Europeans as the advent of Christ was to the Hebrews. 
Even if the printed translation of the Scriptures 
contains errors, there is no error recorded in the 


io 6 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


example of Christ in his recognition of entire humanity. 
The fact that natural man was found in America, 
without the least taint of European corruption, and 
persecuted in like manner to Christ, it should have 
given the wise men of the period something to think 
about, even if they lacked the courage to proclaim it to 
the world. The language of Nature is not artificially 
taught, and the limit of artificial intelligence is confined 
to art. Man has ever tried to elect himself as a “man 
of God ” and even after the advent of Christ and his 
simple example, men would assume an authority over 
human beings and terrorize them into subjection by pre¬ 
tending to have received a special revelation from God. 
If such a man was skilled in artificial intelligence, no one 
could dispute his claim, and as long as he could find 
followers to protect him he could cultivate his tyrannical 
disposition to whatever extent he chose. 

Liberty of construction, however, is confined to the 
realm of art, and a unit of humanity is a natural sov¬ 
ereign over his own acts. The example of Christ was. 
typical of this individual privilege, and no amount of 
doctrines or interpretations can prevent the individual 
from discovering this fact for himself when he reads- 
history. 

The offence of people who claim a right to authority 
over defenceless beings in their own image, by reason of 
artificial cultivation, will never evercome the natural in¬ 
stinct of defence that the natives of America were not 
slow to exhibit. It was just as much their right to 
defend themselves as it was for the Europeans to oppress 
them. No amount of philosophy or theology will ever 
reach such a degree of perfection as a natural man. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. IO/ 

Europeans so blinded by art and their own conceit, either 
could not or would not see the perfect man in the first 
native Americans that Columbus met with. Surely it 
is not the province of a single individual to direct or 
control the understanding of history, either for or against 
the principle of aristocracy; but to a thoughtful mind it 
is suggested that a system of oppression will not be 
tolerated long after the people can read history for them¬ 
selves. The system of aristocracy that was inaugurated 
by the “ divine right of kings ” will have to find some 
other foundation to rest upon, for the march of civiliza¬ 
tion seems to be toward a common humanity, and the 
treatment of the native Americans shows conclusively 
that artificial cultivation had developed a degree of 
wickedness that nothing but the natural sense of com¬ 
mon humanity would be able to correct. 

The migration of the oppressed of Europe to the 
shores of America was analogous to the flight of the 
Israelites. It was quite probable that the foundation of 
American independence was stored in the minds of the 
early settlers by reading the Old Testament. There is 
no reason why they should not have learned by heart that 
Moses tried to convince the people if they trusted in the 
power of God they would have no need of a king. To 
what extent the silent minds of the units of humanity 
contemplated historical events and tried to profit by the 
reflection, is more than artificial knowledge can penetrate. 
The acts of man as portrayed in history would seem to- 
teach what to emulate and what to avoid. 

The condition of the human race was vastly different 
at the period of the settlement of America than at any 
period of the world’s history. The errors of the Israelites 


io8 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


in their experiments with the principle of government 
could well be condoned, for they had no method of com¬ 
munication such as the printing press made possible, be¬ 
sides the conviction of Moses that a large community of 
people could live in social harmony by a simple trust in 
God’s power, was a mere exhibition of his individual 
faith. His meagre knowledge of the possibilities of civ¬ 
ilization and the productiveness of the earth, should be 
considered before he is criticized too severely. History 
shows that he had more faith in the power of God than 
he did in the artificial grandeur of the Egyptians. It 
will be the individual’s own fault if he does not read it 
for himself; and natural intelligence, that is impossible 
for one to teach to another, is all sufficient to convert 
anyone to the principle of Christianity. 

The principle of compulsory teaching, and the right of 
authority of one individual over another, is a personal 
privilege to determine; also the responsibility of the in¬ 
dividual toward any particular form of government can 
be, and no doubt is fully realized by the silent reader of 
current events. There is no evidence that has been 
deduced from history or scientific research that will 
show the least improvement in the natural sensibility of 
man. It is the birthright of every unit of humanity that 
none can dispute without denying his own existence. 
How to govern society in peace and brotherly love has 
been the problem of life since man first discovered him¬ 
self. Theories enough have been written to convert the 
whole world, including all the planets, but the facts are 
that man’s power ceases when he infringes upon the 
p^wer of God, yet the greatest scholars of the world are 
constantly vieing with each other to accomplish the 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 109 

impossible, for the simple purpose of protecting the 
greed of man—a declining aristocracy. There is no 
revelation of history that is more definite than the fact 
that it is God’s province to govern society. It is just as 
clear as the fact that no man ever discovered how hot 
fire was until he came in contact with it. If any man 
thinks he is endowed with intelligence enough to teach 
another to avoid a contact with fire, he can at least 
understand what the individual privileges are, and also 
his responsibilities. The degree of artificial intelligence 
that one may possess greater than another, is very useful 
in correcting artificial evil, but if God was able to create 
the world, He would not be lacking in the power to 
govern it. 

The example of social strife in Europe was the oppor¬ 
tunity of America to improve upon the existing methods 
of government. The early history of the American 
Colonies gives evidence that the spirit of liberty was the 
principal incentive that had induced the oppressed of 
Europe to defy the dangers of a wilderness. A familiar 
idea of a popular form of government was doubtless due 
to the preaching of Christian teachers that were able to 
comprehend the motive of aristocracy in so tenaciously 
defending a monarchial form of government. 

There was no encouragement for aristocrats to migrate 
to the “new world,” and after the novelty of adventure 
was over the settlers were largely composed of the very 
lowest class of working people. There was very little need 
of government except for the purpose of defence. Idle 
persons were not tolerated and even the men elected as 
leaders would be as diligent at menial labor as any in 
the colony. The division of the land into practical 


IIO 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


homesteads was an object lesson that taught the laborer 
the Christian precept, that the laborer was entitled to 
the fruit of his toil. It was proof to the most simple 
mind that the earth was the inheritance of common hu¬ 
manity, and while the aristocracy of Europe was seeking 
the unity of nations, styled the “ Holy Alliance,” the 
social problem of the whole earth was being worked out 
in America. 

The difficult methods of communication between the 
Colonies and Europe were a great protection to the 
growth of liberty. The wisest man, however, and much 
less the aristocracy of Europe, had no idea that the 
settling of America had any influence upon the principle 
of civilization. None was more ignorant of the charac¬ 
ter building that was going on in America than the 
scholarly class. It was predicted that America would 
be divided between the nations of Europe and add to 
the wealth of the aristocracy. It had been taught so 
thoroughly that the working class were inferior, that it 
would be a simple matter to control any spirit of empire 
that could spring up among them. The very neglect of 
the Colonies was an experience to the pioneers that no 
doubt reflected to the thoughtful minds an economy of 
government that would not be tolerated in any section 
of Europe, where every foot of land was owned by a 
privileged class who lived upon the rent, while the 
tenants were subject to whatever conditions that were 
imposed upon them. 

A great many reflections could be drawn from the 
conditions of the early settlers, but it is the essential 
facts that make history of any importance in consider¬ 
ing the influence of the early settlers of America toward 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. I I I 

a more Christian civilization. It would be well to 
realize that the historian and also the man of letters in 
the early days of America were prejudiced by their 
association with the aristocracy of Europe. Such men 
had no sympathy with mere toilers of the earth. It was 
kings, noblemen and men of letters that would seem to 
engage their entire attention. No doubt that historians 
were biased for the purpose of glorifying themselves, for 
history is a witness against itself, that men of the period 
were much given to parading themselves. Artificial 
heroes could be made to order, and a man who could 
perform so wonderfully would meekly submit to any little 
flattery he might earn. It is, therefore, only the essential 
feature in history that treats of the event rather than 
the particulars that the interest of civilization is concerned 
with. It cannot be disguised that the great characters of 
civilization sprung from obscure places, and from the 
lowly people, regardless of the effort of the historian to 
make heroes out of tyrants and pirates. It is only after 
a man has returned to dust, and often years after, that 
his real character is discovered. The man who would 
serve God for the immediate glory of it, is about as un¬ 
christian as Satan, yet to serve God according to the 
teaching of Christ is so simple that no man need go to 
college to find the way. 

If history is to be believed, however, the temptation to 
serve Satan is vastly increased when a man is selected 
as a leader or has a position of command suddenly thrust 
upon him. The fact that the leaders of the early settlers 
of America were composed of men who were very obscure 
(in the eyes of aristocracy) it is not strange that some of 
them would magnify their own importance when they 


I 12 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


became almost absolute rulers of small groups of people. 
It was the loyalty of the lowly people to the absolute law 
of Nature that laid the foundation of American indepen¬ 
dence, for regardless of the necessity of a leader to obtain 
the united strength of a group of men, it was many times 
proved that the most successful leader would unexpect¬ 
edly appear from the ranks. 

History has been very unjust in dealing with the lowly 
people who first came to America. They were treated 
more as servants to some characters that were magnified 
into prominence. “The noble red man ” was doubtless 
overdrawn by fanciful writers, but the effort to show 
that disease and epidemics were very prevalent, when 
vast numbers perished for lack of medical attention, 
would serve as a good advertisement for a patent 
medicine. But when history declares the Indians were 
very numerous, it is rather strange that disease was more 
effective after the white man, than before, when they 
flourished in great numbers. 

Many philanthropists have condoled the ill treatment 
that the Indians received. The prospect of an early 
burial was probably a factor that induced many of them 
to adopt the form of Christianity. It would be idle to 
endeavor to explain why the native Americans were 
driven west in the march of civilization. 

If the sword was the precursor of the pen to promote- 
civilization, there are many inconsistencies yet unex¬ 
plained. The Indians showed a susceptibility to kind 
treatment, and they were fully as faithful to a trust as 
white savages. There is reason to believe that more 
intermarried with the white than history has made any 
note of. Art being the instrument of civilization, and 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. I I 3 

the spirit of liberty being reckless of men’s rights toward 
each other, it is difficult to understand social disorder. 
All nations have been more experimental than perma¬ 
nent, and it would appear that one must actually exper¬ 
ience evil before any method of reform can occur. The 
formality of Christianity as demonstrated by aristocracy 
is certainly an absolute failure. 


CHAPTER XI 

T HE public school was a recognized feature of the 
American Colonies at a very early period. It was 
a great factor in the formulating of a new system 
of government that was destined to introduce a nation 
to surprise the world. It would have been no less a 
surprise to the first settlers, could they have known the 
result of their perseverance and self denials. Ideas 
are born as well as men, and the greatest reward the 
individual can receive is a consciousness that he per¬ 
formed his duty to the best of his knowledge. Honor 
and glory are not obtained by the seeking. The great 
characters are better known after they return to the 
spirit land. History is the best evidence we have of the 
nobility of men who were persecuted in life because they 
clung to their birthright and refused to surrender the 
soul entrusted to their keeping until the demand came 
from the giver. The paraded hero who is emblazoned 
in gilt and decorated with his great achievements, is 
entirely artificial and often paid for from the toil of men 


I 14 THE degeneracy of aristocracy. 

who were forced to witness the starving of their own 
children. If tyrants were happy in displaying them¬ 
selves, history has failed to record it. Nothing would 
surprise the great characters of the past, more than the 
present spread of literature ; it must lead to results that 
no man can foretell. 

That the early teachers of the Puritan order were 
bigoted to an intolerable degree, should surprise no 
reader of history, for “ as the twig is bent, so the tree 
inclines,” was strongly illustrated in the severe measures 
adopted by men who had suffered both persecution and 
a theological training themselves, that gave no hint of 
the superiority of natural training over the artificial. 
It was the circumstances that surrounded the early 
settlers that taught them more than any artful methods 
could accomplish. The very bigotry of men who were 
exalted by their self esteem, was as much a revelation to 
the settlers as the progress of America was later to the 
Europeans. The individual was taking his first lessons 
Of deception and bigotry. The motive of so much 
bigotry was revealed to the people while the individual 
teacher may have been ignorant of what was revealed. 

Teachers had become so bent out of shape by the 
artificial training they had received in the old country 
that they were as blind as the Pharisees, were. 

People in every condition of religious belief were 
grouped together in one community, and the very con¬ 
fusion suggested a necessity for Christian unity. Where 
the toiling people composed the majority of a community, 
they would not tolerate a cruel punishment because of 
an opposing belief in a mere tenet of theology. Yet it 
is a historical fact that horrible cruelties were 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 115 

practiced in the American colonies fully equal to the 
persecution in Europe. What the silent individual con¬ 
ceived by his inherent sense of understanding, history 
has never been able to record. But there is some 
powerful reason why social reforms that lead to a higher 
civilization are always propagated from an obscure group 
of people. It is worthy of note that with all the learning 
and scientific discoveries of Europe, it remained for 
America, in its very infancy, to rebuke the bigotry and 
superstition of the most advanced nations of the earth. 

How much the influence of the printing press and the 
ability to read affected the condition in America, is the 
privilege of anyone to conjecture; but the fact that 
Nature is more productive of results than all the artificial 
creation that human ingenuity has produced, is the most 
prominent feature of history, and while aristocracy and 
the Pharisee class of society display all the superficial 
features of civilization, history fails to record that any 
remarkable character ever sprang from that source. 
Life would be sterile or even stagnant in the absence of 
a possible evil, and facts are more enduring than theory 
can successfully combat with. It is difficult to convince a 
man against the actual experience of a fact, even if he 
lacks the ability to artificially express himself. Hence, 
a person may be illiterate even, his natural education is 
enough to detect the egotism of a cultivated hypocrite. 

It was the actual experience of the teaching of Nature 
that doubtless betrayed the duplicity of men who as¬ 
sumed a commanding attitude during the colonial period, 
and if the aristocratic and book learned class could, to 
a great extent, restrict the circulation of literature for 
fear the working people would learn too much, their ex- 


Il6 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

perience could not be interfered with. Prejudice is a 
disease that medical science suggests no remedy. It is 
doubtless a mild form of insanity, but the convenience 
of defining words to establish a theory makes it possible 
for a man to find himself enshrouded in a net of his own 
weaving. Argument will intensify the disease of preju¬ 
dice, and nothing but the persistent law of Nature will 
relieve a man of a severe attack of prejudice. It was 
therefore the influence of the natural men (Indians) and 
the necessities of the situation that opened the eyes of 
the early settlers, for results must be admitted to be 
stronger evidence than theory. Both art and evil are 
contemporaries of human society, but when the lowest 
class of Europe migrates to a wilderness with scarcely 
any government other than what Nature provides for 
entire humanity, the relation of Nature to art should be 
recognized. Art is the product of Nature that science 
revealed to natural intelligence, and the results of the 
settlement of America were just as much a rebuke to the 
wickedness of Europe as the advent of Christ was to the 
Pharisees. 

A scholarly mind could doubtless comprehend these 
simple facts readily ; but it is not what a man compre¬ 
hends, but how he acts, that counts for civilization. The 
pioneer work in America established more practical 
character than all the theological efforts since letters 
were first discovered. It is not an individual boast, it is 
merely what history reveals, and what can prevent the 
lowest human creature on earth from reading it ? 

Theology is a system to justify an aristocratic form 
of government; it existed before the migration of the 
Israelites, it supported the Pharisees, it endeavored to 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. II/ 

suppress the Bible, it tried to destroy the printing press, 
and contended severely against the privilege of the 
working man learning to read. Exceptional cases that 
could be shown would not affect the general revelation 
of history. It shows conclusively that man always used 
whatever superior advantages he possessed, to oppress 
any creature too timid to resist. If illiteracy is the cause 
of wickedness in the world, what will be the result when 
the commonest workman can read of a system that 
claimed a special privilege to be wicked by reason of a 
knowledge of letters ? 

Great scholars and professors make strenuous efforts 
to penetrate the future, but the past is all there is to 
study. Will the art of letters and scientific discoveries 
discover a method of sustaining life without the menial 
labor of the lowly creatures of humanity ? Surely if the 
knowledge of letters was the only j ustification of aristoc¬ 
racy and moral rectitude, the multitude learning to read 
will naturally feel they are as much entitled to the reward 
of idleness as their progenitors. It may be called “vulgar” 
to devote any thought to the obtaining of food, or to 
recognize the demand of Nature that none can escape, 
but the fact is no less a reality. The system of aristocracy 
is just as dependent for the common necessities of life as 
the “ vulgar ” are. How can aristocracy be privileged 
to exist upon the toil of the “vulgar” by reason of a 
special cultivation, after the vulgar learn to read ? It 
is very improbable that any person is so fond of menial 
labor that they would be indifferent to what became of 
the product. 

Conceit is bold and defiant, while virtue is timid. It 
is not at all reasonable that a person cultivated to a spe- 


I 1 8 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY 

cific belief would admit that a natural man was the 
moral superior of one who was cultivated. It does not 
follow, however, that cultivation is an evil; but the ef¬ 
fort to obtain an existence by seeking to deprive another 
of the same privilege is a serious evil. Even a specific 
training or an effort to formulate a theory to justify a 
class of society in existing upon the toil of others cannot 
be disguised from the man who can read. 

Natural intelligence is scorned by the average posses¬ 
sor of cultivation; but the verdict of physical force 
should be carefully noted in historical events. It would 
seem that cultivation for some reason encouraged a sys¬ 
tem of tyranny and oppression in entire disregard of the 
teaching of Christ. 

This writing is not presumed to be philosophical, doc¬ 
trinal, nor authoritative. It is a mere expression of 
opinion derived from history. It illustrates the possi¬ 
bility of individual interpretation that no collective power 
can prevent. It is idle for the most intelligent person 
on the globe to insist that the free circulation of litera¬ 
ture can be controlled by any specific class of society. 
The most learned scientist would not betray such egotism 
as to claim that the force of gunpowder could success¬ 
fully resist the force of Nature. Yet the philosophy of 
Socrates (that knowledge rules the world) has been 
completely overthrown. It would be a weak subterfuge 
to claim that he meant knowledge in general, for he de¬ 
nied the Scriptures that are composed entirely from 
natural knowledge. Or if the skeptical mind preferred 
to call the Scriptures “ supernatural knowledge” it 
would betray a purpose equally as egotistic as the phi¬ 
losophy of Socrates. If it was necessary for the Scrip- 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. I 19 

tures to lie dormant in the possession of the lowly people 
of the period for three hundred years before the intel¬ 
lectual class discovered they could be perverted for the 
purpose of justifying human slavery, the commonest 
mortal that can read will be able to interpret them. 
The Bible is the greatest production in print that gives 
the least encouragement to natural man, and no person 
can be cultivated without previously possessing natural 
knowledge. 

The minister, doctor and schoolmaster were the pro¬ 
fessional men of the American colonies. The system of 
government was mainly directed to protection against 
the Indians and wild beasts. It would be a discredit to 
history not to observe that the trio of officials that prac¬ 
tically ruled a colony were autocratic to a severe extent; 
yet historians betray their prejudice also, for the lowly 
people constituting the large majority of the colony were 
scarcely considered. They were alluded to as the very 
dregs of European society. The colonies were the 
dumping ground of both criminals and paupers. Now 
if Europe could not reform the renegade and criminal, 
but instead dump them into the American colonies, it 
was creditable to the leading spirits that the Pilgrims 
did not affiliate with the natives and become as wild as 
they were. It was certainly no credit to aristocracy or 
the system that they sent all the worn out subjects to 
America, with such doctors and reform preachers as 
could not be tolerated in the old country. The outlook 
for America could not have been very brilliant to the 
prophets of the period. It is an individual privilege to 
speculate upon the phenomenon of America introducing 
a new era of civilization to the world. Surely if all the 


120 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


illiterate and “naturally depraved ” emigrated to Amer¬ 
ica, “the survival of the fittest” remaining in Europe 
should have made a more remarkable record in compari¬ 
son with that of America. With the knowledge of 
liberty impressed upon the individual mind a man will 
develop a condition of civilization wherever the soil is 
free from the incumbrance of a privileged class of 
society. 

The American school master, native born, was a 
typical democrat, and he was quick to see the impor¬ 
tance of such conditions as free speech, free press, and 
free religion. The matter of religion, however, was a 
serious problem by reason of the conflict between the 
Catholic and Protestant; but the spirit of liberty would 
not surrender to any specific form of society. 

The contrast between the free wilderness of America 
and the aristocratic estates of Europe was readily dis¬ 
cerned by the simplest mind. The native school master 
imbued with the spirit of liberty himself would instill 
into the mind of youth the self evident fact that God 
never set up any lines between different classes of 
society. The simple, inexpensive form of government 
existing in the colonies was practically democratic. It 
demonstrated an economy of government in a commun¬ 
ity composed entirely of working people. It could have 
been studied with profit by the students of political 
economy in Europe who tried to justify the debauchery 
of the aristocracy and proclaim the necessity of a strong 
government to keep the working people from gathering 
in mobs and asserting their rights to the fruit of their 
toil. The colonies presented miniature forms of govern¬ 
ment, that doubtless would have been studied more 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


12 I 


carefully if the possibilities of America had received the 
least attention. 

The spirit of ambition would seem to be as much a 
necessity to the march of civilization as that of liberty, 
and when it is observed that a person is usually flattered 
by being recognized as a leader, some of the incongrui¬ 
ties of colonial life would be explained. The necessity 
of temptation is quite obvious to cultivate character, tor 
in the absence of a possible evil no incentive of growth 
would exist. Yet to cultivate the power of resistance, 
a personal sense of evil must be experienced. The fact 
that a man who has a little authority thrust upon him 
suddenly will become exalted in his own opinion, 
added spice to the novelty of colonial society. The con¬ 
trast, however, with European society suggested 
democratic simplicity that cast an everlasting rebuke 
upon the haughtiness of aristocracy. 

Regardless of the literary effort of historians to ex¬ 
alt aristocracy and show contempt for the lowly, it 
cannot disguise the most essential facts. It is at least 
the privilege of the silent observer of current events 
to notice that the righteousness of life is found in very 
remote and obscure places. Civilization is a condition 
of slow growth, the Christian ideal of a united humanity 
would seem possible by reason of a steady improvement. 
There is no evidence that radical changes will occur so 
suddenly as to seriously disturb the cultured bigotry 
that is so wrapped in conceit as to be thoroughly blind 
to any improved condition of society. A public bene¬ 
factor is one who studies himself while exhibiting great 
distress at the vvickedness he can readily see in others ; 
it is the private right of the individual that no human 


122 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


power can deprive him of. The Bible was no doubt 
read and understood by multitudes of the early settlers 
in silent meditation that only the records of Heaven 
could reveal; but every individual can determine those 
records by reading the same Bible and learning that the 
government of Nature, God’s government, is a never 
changing system, while the work of man is only im¬ 
proved by a recognition of some mistakes. There is no 
more important revelation of the Bible than the fact 
that every individual can interpret it for himself. The 
very foundation of American independence was no doubt 
the result of the individual reading of the Bible. 

Liberty was the theme discussed in the colonies at 
every public resort, and it is not unreasonable to sup¬ 
pose that the early settlers became imbued with the 
fact that no person was a subject to any human author¬ 
ity. Voluntary submission or forcible submisson does 
not affect the general principle that is the birthright 
of every individual. 

Cultivation has no more effect upon natural education,, 
or God’s teaching direct to the individual, than a human 
government has upon the law of Nature. The fact 
that wickedness can be so readily cultivated makes a 
government necessary to protect society. If a person 
can be convinced or frightened into the belief that he 
was born depraved, he can be readily subjugated to a 
condition of obedience or servitude. The man who can 
read, however, can scarcely help discovering that people 
who become elevated to exalted positions take their 
wickedness with them, and no “ subject ” was ever 
more strongly fettered than a man tied to his own 
wickedness. What appears to be elevated society is a 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


123 


delusion of the vision. Society that depends upon 
superficial effect and the purchase of morality, is inferior 
to the native American society that greeted Columbus 
with kindness and was afterward betrayed into serving 
the aristocracy of Spain. If the natives were depraved 
and dubbed “ savages ” for resenting the outrage, what 
should their task masters be called ? 


CHAPTER XII 

T HE American colonies had demonstrated that the 
government of Nature was superior to any system 
that man had ever established. Prior to the 
advent of commerce and trade relations that made the 
accumulation of wealth possible, the colonies had been 
governed by miniature democracies. It had not occurred 
to the aristocratic observers of Europe that the isolating 
of such morbid groups of its lowly subjects would en¬ 
gender any suggestion of a reform system of govern¬ 
ment. It excited mere ridicule in the minds of the 
exalted society of the mother country if it was even 
suggested that “paupers, criminals and vagabonds” 
ever indulged in thoughts so profound as human justice. 

History has preserved enough of the pioneer society 
of America, to make it as impossible to prevent the facts 
becoming known, as it was for the Romans to endevor 
to destroy the Bible. ,Great events that have special 
bearngs upon the march of civilization, have always sur¬ 
prised the most cultivated class of society, and when it 


124 


THE DFGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


is observed that scarcely three hundred years have 
passed since the poor and lowly outcasts escaped from 
their oppressions and fled to America, it is significant 
as a repetition of history. The same period transpired 
before the lowly event of Christ’s teaching was so much 
as investigated by the class of society claiming to be 
the elevated class. What reason can a thoughtful mind 
offer, that God’s law upon earth is less effective than in 
the days of the Pharisees ? 

History gives no evidence of man’s laws disturbing 
the law of Nature, that is, no direct evidence from the 
original historian. It is not necessary to dispute author¬ 
ities or question the eminence of either ancient or 
modern writers, the individual is rapidly becoming able 
to read history without having it explained to him. It 
might be comforting to the individual who tries to feel 
exalted and superior to his fellow men to nurse his pre¬ 
judice and cling to his training; but it will not change 
the fact that the progress of the American colonies burst 
upon the aristocracy of Europe like an earthquake. 

Writers, traders, mechanics and cultivated swindlers 
flocked to America to leech and beguile the simple 
minded settlers. It marked the transition from a 
strictly agricultural to a commercial period. European 
writers profited by ridiculing American society; it was 
similar to the disregard for the early Christians, but 
since doctrines were formulated to accommodate aristo¬ 
cratic society, the interpretations of the Bible were 
worshipped more than the original text. 

It was enough for the aristocracy to pin their faith to, 
to be assured by the profound theologians of the day 
that some were born to rule, and others to serve. They 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


125 


surrendered their souls to the care of doctors of divinity, 
and their physical bodies to doctors of medicine. The 
discussion of topics was bad form, and no one can believe 
that God ever intended to punish any one who was too 
ignorant of his duty to be responsible for his acts. 

Commerce and trade introduced the possibility of 
accumulating wealth, a perfectly proper ambition for 
any individual. It will be well, however, to pay more 
than a passing notice to such an important feature of 
life as wealth — a mere reserve for future needs. A 
theory in dispute with experience is always a stern chase, 
hence the individual is compelled to face the fact that 
he must judge for himself the proper methods of obtain¬ 
ing wealth, and to what use it will be applied. Its 
influence upon the social conditions that affect govern¬ 
ment systems, is also the individual privilege to determine 
from multitudes of books that reveal the effect of 
wealth upon morality, civilization and human happiness. 
The man who has sold his “ birthright/’ and subscribed 
to the authority of others, becomes a nonentity so far 
as human progress is concerned. He will serve his 
master in “ fear and trembling,” and even if he has the 
courage to change masters, he will continue to be a 
nonentity. History will furnish details to show that 
human bjings too timid or unsuspecting to offer resist¬ 
ance, were first forced to serve a master, and later 
trained for the same purpose — all to gain wealth. 

Statistics may show that the elevated class of society 
is more moral; (?) but can the most luminous writer 
show that the love of gold has diminished to any per¬ 
ceptible degree. The influence of wealth upon the 
early settlers of America, gives a clear illustration of 


126 


TIIE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY 


both the good and evil of it. The fact that one individ¬ 
ual may not be able to see by the light of another 
will not prove that all mankind is blind. There are two 
general methods of obtaining wealth, one is to earn it 
and the other is to steal it. The inheritance of wealth 
does not change its original location in the bosom of the 
earth, that is, it still has to be earned by labor. To be 
born wealthy is equivalent to being “still born. ” It is 
left for any individual to draw conclusions or make de¬ 
ductions from these statements, for their principal feat¬ 
ures are that no individual is ever placed in a position to 
be obliged to accept the opinion of another. 

No one has been able to take account of the stock of 
wealth that the earth contains, and whatever exceptions 
could be taken, it would still be an individual privilege 
to claim that every unit of humanity was an equal co¬ 
partner in the wealth of the earth. Feudal law and 
both social and political economy could be quoted to 
prove that the privilege of ownership was settled beyond 
dispute. It could also be claimed that an admission of 
equal co-partnership would encourage anarchy and en¬ 
danger the tranquility of society. It is always danger¬ 
ous to defy the law of Nature or the law of God; but 
conditions change, and with such changes it becomes 
possible to modify human law that it may better harmon¬ 
ize with the Supreme kfvv. Any individual imbued 
with the spirit of liberty, and it is reasonable to assume 
that all are, becomes an independent lawyer just as soon 
as he can read. He has undisputed command of both 
written and unwritten law, and in his silent meditations, 
his conclusions are personal property. It is a reserve 
force that the most intelligent is as ignorant of as 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


127 


the Pharisees were of the future of the Scriptures. 

No such conditions had ever been recorded by the 
historians as existed in the colonies of America. Groups 
of humanity — the very dregs of European society, had 
governed themselves, in comparative peace. It may 
have been entirely due to the influence of the Christian 
clergy; in any event, however, it was a severe rebuke to 
aristocracy who claimed a special privilege from the 
“ Supreme Being, ” to both own the earth and rule it 
for their special benefit. 

There is very little evidence in history of any man 
being cured of the disease of prejudice, or greed for 
wealth ; hence social conditions did not concern men who 
were seeking wealth. Men who were styled “gentle¬ 
men ” in English society had witnessed whole ship loads 
of human beings compelled to “ walk the plank, ” with¬ 
out a word of protest or a cringe of conscience, simply 
because the end justified the means. English law, as 
written, would not countenance piracy ; but the control¬ 
ling power was aristocracy, and the influence of gold 
would defy the “ King’s bench,” while the consoling 
blessing of the church could be obtained for a liberal 
“cash down. ” If history is to be believed, it would 
seem that the greed for wealth would defeat the very 
power of God ; but natural law holds the balance of 
power, and the silent intelligence of the most obscure 
■beings in collective action acts as a unit. 

Wealth will purchase whatever the most craving de¬ 
sire the disease of man may suggest, and for a liberal fee 
the doctor will soothe his pains with drugs. The one 
feature of life that wealth will not purchase is happiness ; 
yet it is obtainable free of cost, a simple prescription 


28 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


that is found in the Bible, “ Go, and sin no more. ,r 

Simplicity, however, is an aggravating remedy to a 
person who desires wealth for the sole purpose of evad¬ 
ing the natural law, and also the divine law, to earn 
bread by the “ sweat of the brow, ” and while the law 
also says, “thou shalt not steal, ” it goes without saying' 
that man can steal, and also live by the sweat of the 
brow, too often, though, by the sweat of another’s brow. 
It can readily be observed how the Scriptures can be in¬ 
terpreted to justify a person’s desires, but the idea is,, 
will Nature permit the law, that is an individual privilege 
to know, to be defied? Nature can be theoretically 
“depraved ” for the convenience of people who are anxi¬ 
ous to gratify their desires ; but she insists upon a settle¬ 
ment of accounts that theories cannot settle. 

To earn wealth by physical labor is an undoubted 
privilege, and the private right of the individual, and by 
reason of an advanced stage of civilization, the principle 
of trade could be accepted as legitimate in the sense of 
a mutual exchange. Beyond what is covered by physical 
labor and legitimate trade the principle of aristocracy is 
involved. The effort to enhance values by the exertion 
of labor is theoretic and can be determined by the sim¬ 
plest individual who can read. There are plenty of books 
that treat the subject exhaustively, very few, however, 
recognize the lowly laborer. The most popular books 
are the ones that endeavor to make stealing a virtue* 
Popular books would only apply to the cultivated class, 
for it is a very significant fact, that books treating the 
subject of human relations, are so obscurely written that 
it would seem as if the writer would become lost in his 
own theories. The theorist betrays his ambiguity in the 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


129 


very profundity of his argument. The reader becomes 
amazed at the intellectual capacity of a writer, simply 
because he cannot understand it, or what the writing is 
about. 

The command, “ servant obey your master, ” has taxed 
the highest type of intellect that the human mind has 
developed, and the unlimited effort that is made to con¬ 
vince a menial that he should be thankful for the privi¬ 
lege of being a subject of his cultivated surroundings, 
betrays a serious purpose in such profound effort. A 
thief even would not be so unreasonable as to claim that 
he deprived his victim of the fruit of his toil, because he 
lacked the intellectual capacity of making good use of it 
himself. The very hair of human beings has been 
analyzed and dissected under the most powerful micro¬ 
scope to determine the relation of one man to another. 
It is a false position that demands the greatest effort, 
while simplicity is always the best evidence of the truth. 

The man who earns wealth by his own toil, appreciates 
it more than he who obtains it by his intellectual ability 
to trade upon the weakness of humanity. Hence to 
beguile the early settlers, was much easier than to dis¬ 
guise the motive. It can scarcely be questioned but the 
spirit of evil in the form of temptation is the very incen¬ 
tive of civilization. Vegetable growth requires attrac¬ 
tion, and what but attraction of some character would 
induce a man to exert himself beyond the mere satisfying 
of his appetite. Nothing is more convincing that human 
beings could be reasonable than the fact of their acting 
so unreasonable. The man who insists upon his right 
to obtain wealth by deception, or what is equally the 
same, to take advantage of another, ignorant of the sit- 


130 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


uation, discloses the fact that he knows he is doing 
wrong himself. It is very significant that a man as a rule 
who accumulates wealth will gradually assume aristocratic 
privileges, even if he was not to the “ manner born. ” 
It simply shows how difficult it is to resist the effect of 
prosperity, and the only commendable feature to such a 
condition is, it would serve as an example for posterity 
to avoid. It would no doubt be humiliating to writers 
that endeavor to show that morality depends upon 
culture, to realize that civilization depends upon the very 
people who are viewed with scorn and contempt. That 
is precisely what history reveals continually, and no 
event is more conspicuous than the early colonial period 
of America. 

The fact that wealth has an elevating influence upon 
humanity should not deceive a person who is sincere in 
a desire to do right. The superficial character of wealth 
is attractive, and what appears to be the goal of human 
happiness vanishes at the first embrace. The experience 
of the earliest settlers taught them a lesson that was 
passed on to posterity in a traditional manner; it was a 
contempt for the superficial character of wealth. The 
flutter of vanity and conceit did not disturb the tranquil 
society of the rustic settlers. They felt more than they 
expressed when European manners and customs were 
being introduced into America. 

The farmers, however, were very different from the 
peasantry of Europe, which no doubt deceived the few 
aristocrats who were attracted to America by their greed 
for wealth. The farmers had experienced privations 
that taught them the true value of wealth, and as a rule 
they became economical and thrifty without regard for 


TIIE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


31 


personal display. Old foxes are pretty hard to catch, 
but it would seem from historical accounts that the 
introduction of rum and other vices from Europe was 
more acceptable than the “tea” at a later period. If 
the farmers did indulge a little in the tempting baits 
nothing could cure them from laughing at any aristo¬ 
cratic display. 

The aristocracy and also the learned fraternity of 
Europe were all at sea in regard to the silent musing of 
the thrifty farmers of America. Students were rare who 
ventured beyond the proscribed limits of standard au¬ 
thorities. They were mere echoes of whatever school of 
philosophy they were taught to imitate. It would seem 
from the observation of at least one individual that a 
person could be so unduly trained as to lose all power of 
natural ability; but it must be admitted, however, that an 
observer can discover faults in others, while he still 
lacks the all essential power to discover his own. It 
would prove to a disinterested person that it was possible 
to so train an individual that he would be a brilliant 
imitator, but an absolute nonentity as a producer or 
critic of original possibilities of the human mind. It is 
a well known fact that man can be trained to serve, as 
well as chained; and regardless of the great efforts of 
brilliant historians, facts will not down. 

The people are learning to read, and natural intelli¬ 
gence muses over the revelations of history, and while 
it is possible to train a youth in some channel of belief 
that practically destroys his personality, it is not possible 
to prevent the natural man from reading and musing 
over the injustice toward the lowly people in the past. 
Doctrines or schools of philosophy may be remarkably 


I 3 2 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


sound from a logical standpoint, but in the absence of 
followers or trained believers they will go out like fire in 
the absence of fuel; yet the truth has never been the 
cause of a single war in its defence. It will stand alone 
and proclaim itself to the individual intelligence in entire 
disregard of man’s resistance. 

The fact that virtue is timid and silent i.i the presence 
of the boldness of evil is well demonstrated in the his¬ 
tory of America. Besides the impossibility of sustaining 
a system of aristocracy as a governing class, with a uni¬ 
versal privilege to read, will be as contrary as to teach 
fish to live out of water. 

People who can read will neither be subj ugated by the 
fetters of training nor the chain of the slave. The Bible 
proclaims it, as also the march of civilization, against the 
persistent obstruction of aristocracy and the alluring 
greed of wealth. Virtue is always found in the natural 
man, which the advent of America proclaims. While 
some are tempted to sell their birthright, and others who 
have subscribed to the authority of brilliant examples 
may blaze, virtue in silence leads the march of civil¬ 
ization. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


33 


CHAPTER XIII. 

T HE art of manufacturing developed very rapidly from 
the crude methods in vogue in Europe. The arti¬ 
san often migrated to America, not so much from 
any particular attraction for a field to exploit his 
talent, but to escape from the tyranny of his master. 
There was scarcely any encouragement in England to 
improve any method of manufacture after the making of 
an article was accomplished. The system of servitude 
that was tenaciously held to by the aristocracy prevented 
the natural ambition of man from asserting itself. Work 
of any character was termed drudgery, and the mere 
necessity of life was all a laborer had any reason to 
expect. He was thankful to his employer if he could 
earn his living, it was not strange therefore that working 
people would become sullen and reckless in such a 
stifling atmosphere. 

Aristocracy was always conservative and entirely in¬ 
different to any labor saving device. The common 
people were taught to be obedient servants, and if an 
improved idea was even suggested it was feared that 
working people would grow arrogant and rebellious. 
The only scope of natural ingenuity was to relieve, to 
some extent, the wretched hovels that the working 
people were forced to live in. Progress was forced upon 


34 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


England from the natural disposition of the common 
people to struggle for their rights. There is no evidence 
in history that the learned or cultivated class ever sug¬ 
gested anything of a manufacturing character. They 
seemed to be entirely devoted to the study of methods 
of subjugation and how to prevent the common people 
from discovering their natural ability. The effort of the 
ruling class to monoplize every improved condition in the 
art of manufacture or scientific discoveries, never in¬ 
cluded any recognition of the rights of humanity. 

It must have dawned upon the minds of some of the 
great philosophers and professors of scientific studies 
that civilization was annihilating musty theories rather 
than being guided by them. Men who will steal, how¬ 
ever, or seek to exist by the toil of their fellow men will 
never use their mental faculties to condemn the system. 
Because cultivation is possible it in no sense justifies a 
system of monopoly, and also the employment of the 
superior ability to subjugate people less favored. 

If civilization could be anticipated there would no 
doubt be huge barriers erected to prevent it, but it ap¬ 
pears from unexpected quarters, and from such obscure 
people that the parallel of Christ’s advent has to be 
theoretically revised to explain it. Theories are offered 
in profusion after an event occurs, but to admit any 
error that would sacrifice the one feature of a privileged 
class of society, was more than any dared to utter. The 
minute energy required to manufacture certain fabrics, 
that were worn with haughty indifference, was not con¬ 
sidered as any reflection upon aristocracy. If the arti¬ 
san or poor laborer worked years upon an article and 
earned the meanest existence it would not suggest any 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


135 


merit for a mere workman. The infatuation of a noble 
birth had become so cultivated that no sense of justice 
would intrude upon a mind so diseased. Men who could 
write great volumes of trash about the wonderful ex¬ 
ploits of warriors, and picture the glorious results of 
some murderous conquest, could not perceive the peace¬ 
ful agency of art that was instilled into the human mind, 
as uncultivated as a spider that weaves a web, yet put¬ 
ting the ability of man to shame. If it requires so 
much talent and long study to discover why nations will 
war upon each other, it would seem that wickedness 
would be located, even if it could not be destroyed. 

Theories have become so attached to a system of aris¬ 
tocracy that the effort to hide evil engages all the culti¬ 
vated ability of the world ; hence where can one look 
for human virtue except among the lowly people or very 
“outcasts,” such as were shipped to America to relieve 
the vision of aristocracy from their uncouth surround¬ 
ings. The colonies of America were supposed to be the 
very last places in the world where the art of manufac¬ 
ture could flourish. It was not disturbed by the aristoc¬ 
racy because it had been settled by the wisdom of the 
age that it was dangerous to encourage natural ingenuity, 
and by retaining all the cultivated ability at home wis¬ 
dom was not concerned about the future of America. 

The spirit of liberty had unlimited range in the wilder¬ 
ness of America. It stimulated every natural faculty, 
and the oppressive character of man to subjugate others 
was neutralized by the vastness of the country. “ Sav¬ 
ages,” as the native Americans were called, were less to 
be feared than the bigoted tyrants that endeavored to 
restrain the most valuable right of man—liberty. What 


136 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY 


man was ever born with a privilege to specify the degree 
of liberty that another should enjoy ? 

We have history and tradition as well, besides the facts 
beyond dispute, that no nation ever had such phenom¬ 
enal growth as the United States. A man must be preju¬ 
diced beyond hope not to be able to see that it was a re¬ 
buke to aristocracy and an encouragement to democracy. 

The marvellous results of manufactures of the most 
primitive character reflect the natural power of man 
fully as great as the cultivation of the mind, and even 
greater when peace or war is considered ; for the former 
suggests peace and happiness, while the latter promotes 
war and destruction. It would be well for any one to 
observe the relative condition of the ingenious workman 
of Europe, obstructed by the tyranny of aristocracy, and 
the same man in the unrestricted field of America where 
he could reap the product of his toil. It should reflect 
a rebuke upon a man who feels his importance to be en¬ 
hanced by the fabric he wears, entirely ignorant of the 
skill required to produce it. 

There was no possible chance in Europe for a man to 
profit by his skill; such a man was taken advantage of 
in like manner to the enslaving of the negroes, simply 
because they were too ignorant to resist. Aristocracy 
not only possessed the exclusive title to all the land in 
Europe, but in addition it exercised such influence over 
the working people that their ambition was stifled in 
reckless debauchery. Men came to America perfect 
wrecks in consequence of the injustice practiced upon 
them by the aristocracy. These men were often skilled 
artisans, and with the crude materials at hand, such as 
the skins of animals with their fur, and even hair was 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


137 


utilized, also fibers of wild flax with the cotton intro¬ 
duced later ; it revived their drooping ambition. It had 
a redeeming influence far more potent than all the moral 
teaching that aristocracy could formulate. It did not 
require a theory to demonstrate it, for the facts were 
self evident. 

History will reveal to any individual who can read, the 
social inconsistencies that have occurred since the Is¬ 
raelites fled from the Egyptians. People who cannot 
read can be deceived and trained into a condition of ser¬ 
vitude by men who will exert every energy they possess 
to justify the act. Two circumstances are plainly re¬ 
vealed which are very confounding, and nothing but the 
natural reasoning powers of the individual can solve the 
seeming mystery. The earth would have been barren 
before America was discovered if men claiming to be the 
rulers of the world could have stifled the spirit of liberty 
born in every human being, and demonstrated by the 
first use of his fist. Call it depravity or an inherited 
disease, civilization would have been impossible but for 
that little individual fist. Both men and women have 
had visions and dreams that have astonished themselves 
and attracted followers, (modern nightmare) but such 
men and women would reveal all the wisdom they pos¬ 
sessed by proscribing that their followers should sub¬ 
scribe to a condition of servitude and submission to 
whatever was required. The system of aristocracy, un¬ 
derstood as a privileged class, was first introduced by 
said nightmares, or history is not worth the paper it is 
written upon. 

Men can be asked to - specify what they believe, and 
dispute about it until they get mad and marshal their 


138 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


followers to mortal combat, yet what they really believe 
is an individual privilege that no unit of humanity can 
be deprived of. After the people began to read, and it 
was discovered that the printing press and the distribu¬ 
tion of literature could not be suppressed, the Holy 
Alliance was inaugurated, which betrayed the fears of 
the aristocracy, and incidentally their wickedness, in 
seeking to oppress the working people. It is a doubtful 
problem if any person in favored circumstances is sincere 
in his effort to teach the common laborer to read, 
except with a condition that practically entails a sub¬ 
mission to the system of aristocracy. History does not 
reflect any sincerity in any form of teaching that does 
not include obedience to human authority. 

There is evidence enough in history that the lowly 
people are in no sense obligated to any human being for 
the privilege of learning to read. It is with the same 
eager desire that a child demonstrates with his fist that 
he shows his determination to learn something. The 
fact that he can be abused and taught submission by 
reason of being of parents who have sold their birthright 
is no fault of the child. 

The man who fears that civilization would suffer in: 
his absence would need no medical examination to deter¬ 
mine his sanity, or if it troubled him to hear that democ¬ 
racy had established a foothold upon America that no 
earthly power could destroy. There is no previous con¬ 
dition in history of a parallel character, by reason of the 
individual opportunity to develop his natural ability; be¬ 
sides, being able to read of the duplicity of men, he 
could defy in such a wilderness as America. 

Every little stream of water near the settlements was 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


139 


utilized for turning some crude water wheel for milling 
or manufacturing purposes. Now, while the ideas were 
all brought from Europe, what is the most important as 
reflecting upon the system of aristocracy, was, land was 
not held at prohibitive rental, for great nobles who were 
given large grants of land, very indifferently surveyed, 
considered the title more as a joke than having any 
rental value. Besides, any form of taxation was so dif¬ 
ficult that it would be evaded or neglected altogether. 
Still another reason was that the class of people, as a. 
rule, who emigrated were the “ dangerous and criminal 
classes.” It was doubtless felt if they could support 
themselves it was a profit to the mother country; and 
again taxes were neglected; besides if any story reached 
England of the prosperous manufacturing events in the 
colonies it was too much of a joke to investigate. It all 
tended to encourage the settlers to vie with each other 
to improve the opportunity to obtain titles to the land 
and accumulate property. 

Peaceful society was no doubt largely due to the 
church and schoolhouse, but after fifteen hundred years 
of war in Europe to decide who owned the working peo¬ 
ple, the individual decided it for himself by practical ex¬ 
perience in America. It is immaterial whether the 
credit was due the church ur the individual incentive to 
grow at the first opportunity. The fact is. beyond reas¬ 
onable dispute that the thin edge of the wedge was en¬ 
tered that was destined to shiver aristocracy to splinters. 
It is one of the strong evidences that history records from 
the time of David, that the virtue of civilization always 
occurs in the most obscure places and at very unex¬ 
pected periods. 


140 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY, 


It needs no profound explanation to convince a person 
of what he has discovered himself. It is evident to one 
individual at least that the effect of teaching or training 
is neutralized by reason of the possibility of both good 
and evil being taught. The individual must decide for 
himself what is right or wrong, whether he will serve or 
be free, in the same manner as Esau did. Commercial 
theology does not concern any person who can read the 
Bible for himself. No event in history shows a more 
striking proof of the individual privilege to his own per¬ 
sonality. If such ideas are mere theories how can it be 
explained that the very dregs of humanity were sent to 
America to set an example that cultured Europe was 
forced to adopt? God’s ways are not man’s ways, but 
the ‘‘advent” of the colonies of America should suggest 
to people who are looking for more “advent ” and more 
“signs” that God or Nature is not disturbed by the art 
of man who can build towers of Babel and then watch 
them tumble down. It would seem that man was 
getting culture enough to read the “signs ” without the 
necessity of having them pointed out by men who would 
treat the subject as a commercial affair. 

History that was written prior to the American 
Revolution was more devoted to some specific object 
than to any events of a plebian character. Hence the 
effort to contradict conflicting records, betrays a motive 
that is in effect the very essence of history itself. It 
cannot be disproved that a majority of men who en¬ 
joyed life free from the necessity of menial toil, made 
every effort to prevent the masses from learning to read. 
It is also a question for the individual to decide whether 
peers or men associated together and able to monoplize 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 141 

any specific bounty of the earth are ever sincere in their 
pretension to enlighten the illiterate man. If they are 
not sincere, it is only by the individual effort that social 
conditions can possibly be improved. The reflection of 
history upon the individual reader can reasonably be 
supposed to be of similar character to that upon the 
minds of other individuals. It is therefore such silent 
musing that the peers of monoply would do well to 
study. Peers of monopoly were in comparative safety 
so long as they could prevent the masses from learning 
to read, and terrorize any venturesome mortal who dared 
to show the least human interest in the improvement of 
society at large. This feature will be treated more 
definitely in succeeding chapters. 

There is traditional evidence enough in the absence of 
written records to warrant the belief that the manufac¬ 
turing interests of England were alarmed at the progress 
of various industries in America even as early as the 
sixteenth century. Iron was smelted, which aroused 
the jealous interests of the English monopolists. Every 
effort was made to prevent the growth of any manufac¬ 
turing interests. It was vigorously contended that the 
colonies must be strictly confined to agricultural pur¬ 
suits. Opposition seemed to stimulate the pioneers to 
greater exertion, and the great distance of the colonies 
from England with only sailing vessels as a means of 
communication tended to assist the colonies in outwitting 
all attempts to restrain them from the exercise of their 
liberty. It would seem to indicate at a very early period 
that America was destined to rival Europe in the most 
essential feature of civilization. 

Ship building was added to the other industries, and 


142 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


a brisk commerce was established with the Spanish 
Colonies, but the moral standard was so low from the re¬ 
flection of European greed for gold that piracy and 
legitimate commerce were undistinguishable. A constant 
warfare of some character was the best proof in the 
world that prosperity itself would always suggest some 
means of justifying the methods of obtaining it. It 
would appear that no semblance of morality was ob¬ 
served upon the high seas, and only romance reveals a 
vague idea of the probable facts that are buried 
in the sea. 


CHAPTER XIV 

I T should be observed that the contention between 
the Catholic and Protestant factions of the Christian 
Church, at the period when the American Colonies 
had reached a degree of marvellous prosperity, reflects 
upon the present condition of society the relation between 
democracy and aristocracy. The individual of that per¬ 
iod must have been as able to use his natural intelligence 
as the individual of the present is to review the event 
from mere historical records. The individual privilege 
to observe the men who claimed to be the guiding influ¬ 
ence of morality by reason of a privilege derived from 
the same source constitutes an equality of privilege at 
least, even if all other conditions of equality were at 
variance. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


143 


The tenets of dispute between these contending fac¬ 
tions were strictly theological, and have been exhaust- 
ingly treated in literature. It is the possibility of a dis¬ 
pute between men claiming a divine privilege to com¬ 
mand an obedience from the uncultured man, who 
was taught that he was destined to dig in the dirt until 
he could be morally regenerated. It is the relation of 
the dispute upon the system of aristocracy that concerns 
the individual of the present more than the details of 
the disputants who have rendered their accounts to the 
source from whence their privileges were obtained. 

The toleration of an individual expression of opinion 
at the present is more the result of improved conditions 
than any change in natural intelligence or the greed for 
authority that is so obvious in people who are able to 
display their acquirements to a remarkable degree. It 
would doubtless fatigue the minds of many individuals 
who feel themselves to be the possessors of a remarkable 
volume of artificial knowledge to even consider such a 
“vulgar” idea as natural intelligence possessing a pre¬ 
eminence to any possible height that the artificially ac¬ 
quired could ever reach. An individual can be often 
controlled by his sense of fear and severe threats of pun¬ 
ishment, hence whatever his intelligent thought might 
be, he would be restrained from making the least sign of 
utterance. To serve in silence is the admonition of a 
master to an involuntary servant. It is for the individ¬ 
ual himself to determine what these suggestions have to 
do with theological disputes or the degeneracy of aris¬ 
tocracy, but when a man’s appetite is in contention with 
bis reasoning faculties the former will demand attention 
iirst, and the reason will consider the event afterward. 


144 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


There are no doubt many individuals who could attest 
that they could observe an event much more distinctly 
than they felt able to explain it; besides the lack 
of courage to express a distinct impression upon the 
mind is often the restraining influence that silences an 
individual. When the conditions existing two hundred 
years ago are compared with the present it could be seen, 
by an observer that the appetite and desire to command 
the services of others to perform the menial toil abso¬ 
lutely necessary to maintain existence, the dispute be¬ 
tween the Catholic and Protestant would shed light upon 
the subject. 

The moral influence and spiritual reverence were com¬ 
mendable in both factions but no excuse can be offered 
for the dispute over the question of which faction was 
privileged to command service from the food producing 
toiler. The theological duplicity of the Counsel of Nice 
is responsible for the great mistake of justifying a 
system of aristocracy; and regardless of the disposition 
of man to exist at the expense of others, it was necessary 
to agree upon a generic foundation to dispel the con¬ 
flicting schools of philosophy of a humanitarian char¬ 
acter. The individual who would seek for literary just¬ 
ification of the privilege of being wicked, of which fact 
he was perfectly conscious, could find “authorities ” in 
books that would take a life time to read. It is not SO' 
much the desire to be righteous, as it is to condone the 
privilege of doing wrong, that so much literary talent is 
wasted upon the subject of theology. Any commercial 
interest that an individual will accept a profit from, he 
will defend as a righteous principle, by the same rule 
that prompted him to accept the profit. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


145 


Stealing, piracy and a system of slavery or servitude 
was the prevailing method of supporting the system of 
aristocracy two hundred years ago. Hence any system 
of theology that condoned aristocracy was an abbettor of 
the wickedness, regardless of the moral rectitude that 
the act was disguised in. The absurdity of two men of 
equal intelligence, both natural and artificial, contending 
over schools of theology as between the Catholic and 
Protestant, when the very Law was so simply expounded 
by Christ that “ babes and fools, ” even, need not err. 
If it was due to some specific training, so much the worse 
for the training. 

It should be observed that chattel servitude at that 
period was a recognized institution of domestic economy, 
by the cultivated class, and any theology that denied the 
right of one man to own another would not be profitable 
enough to pay for preaching it. Protestant preachers 
were more susceptible of the spirit of liberty by reason 
of the influence of colonial society. Besides, the hardy 
pioneers would not tolerate any preacher that did not 
emphasize the word “ liberty ” equally as distinct as 
another word. While the Catholics were treated unjustly 
in many localities for political reasons, there were many 
of its clergy fully as faithful to the preaching of Chris¬ 
tianity as the Protestants were. 

Personal rights and liberty were very difficult for 
the Catholic clergy to combat with, for obedience to 
human authority, or Church authority interpreted by its 
clergy, was the very corner stone. The Protestant 
clergy were more prosperous in the colonies by means of 
the great variety of ways by which the wicked could be¬ 
come regenerated. It encouraged an individual indepen- 


146 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


dence that was the forerunner of the Declaration of 
Independence and the first general acceptance of the 
Golden Text that had ever been recognized by any con¬ 
siderable body of men. 

The most learned men of the period were too practi¬ 
cal to dispute without much regard for the science of 
reason upon one very important subject; however, they 
were thoroughly agreed and strangely ignorant, judging 
from the evidence of history. It was the regeneracy or 
convertion of the natural man who had been taught by 
social surroundings or the customs of the period to have 
godly reverence for professional men and public orators. 
It was a homespun conception that polite manners and 
respectful recognition of each other made the gentle¬ 
man or lady, rather than any favor of birth or specific 
social station. A failure, however, to recognize an 
official with such mark of respect as he would designate 
would consign such a man to the pillory or a severe 
whipping. It reflected more upon the degeneracy of the 
official than upon the victim who was prejudged to be 
contaminated with “original sin.” Such punishments 
were never in dispute among the early magnates of 
society. 

It shows a very decided feature of the disposition in 
man to magnify his own importance, and if that is what 
is meant by “original sin, ” no one gives evidence of its 
staying qualities more than the men who dispute over it 
and vent their anger upon the silent people too ignorant 
to make a logical defence in specific language that would 
indicate that the plaintiff was neither to the “ manner 
born ” or the manner trained. 

Facts that history reveals, with their reflections upon 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


147 


the present social debauchery, cannot be hidden by the 
learned men in their theological disputes over scriptural 
text, for an unexpected feature is rapidly developing that 
will have to be met, in a parallel manner that the scrip¬ 
tures had to be met after years of war for no other pur¬ 
pose than to obscure the natural intelligence of the food 
producing class. The history of the struggles of the 
American Colonies has no parallel in what is termed 
“ profane history ” for two very important reasons : 

First, it was the first opportunity to any considerable 
extent that any people of the earth had such a privilege 
to develop their individuality. However adverse some 
•of the minor details could be made to appear, the gen¬ 
eral result cannot be revised, even if the written history 
can be disputed by the learned scholar of the day in a 
similar manner to the dispute over the Bible. The most 
important feature that the scholar of the day, who must 
consider logic to be an essential feature, is the people 
are reading the most minute events of the day. Reading 
includes the faculty of thinking, and no parallel can be 
found in history to give the least hint of what they are 
thinking about. Only from imagination, from circum¬ 
stances that always will crop out, can anything like pre¬ 
dictions be indulged in. Ancient history, however, re¬ 
cords that the vast majority of the “wise men ” of old 
were more noted for their failures than their success. 
Whatever the reading workman thinks is the individual 
privilege to imagine. It is safe to claim that the silent 
reader of current events is collectively a unit of one 
mind that they have always been deceived by the class 
of society who claim to be privileged. 

Present conditions cannot escape an observer’s mind 


148 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


who is really sincere in trying to promote an improve¬ 
ment in society. If he cannot sacrifice his own individ¬ 
ual interests in the commercial value of his precepts, he 
should at least recognize the privilege of other individ¬ 
uals to decide for themselves what was best for their 
individual interest. It is neither the fault nor any cred¬ 
itable action of aristocracy, or “wise men” as a class, 
that is promoting the unparalleled condition of the masses 
learning to read. It will have to be reckoned with by 
the scholars who depend upon ancient books to justify 
their conclusions. No expounder of theology has given 
any evidence of adding anything to the teaching of 
Christ and his Apostles, hence when preaching was a 
necessity to enlighten the masses it was without price; 
now the masses can read it without price. While the 
no-price is a parallel feature, it must be recognized even 
in the absence of a willingness, that people who can 
read, are at least, as able to understand theology as 
“wise men” who have failed to come to a common un¬ 
derstanding after disputing two thousand years. 

This new condition—the ability of the masses to read 
cannot be overcome by any restrictions upon the circu¬ 
lation of literature, for secret scheming to defraud the 
public, exposed in print makes interesting reading, and 
is also the most powerful civilizing influence of the day. 
There is no evidence that God is discouraged because 
his “agents” have betrayed the “trust.” It is no 
secret to multitudes of scholarly men, but commercial 
and ^social invests make it much more convenient to 
preach than to practice. Christ taught two features of 
vital importance to the individual—redemption and the 
fact that religion is free. Besides no individual who can 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


149 


read could possibly fail to observe that he rebuked 
specific forms and “stiff necked” people. 

That monarchial forms of government had practically 
controlled the relation of theology to the working people, 
prior to the advent of America, made the dispute be¬ 
tween the Catholic and Protestant more bitter. If an 
individual might be permitted to have an independent 
thought of the design of God in permitting the pioneers 
of the colonies to cultivate independent, or individual 
ideas of theology, it was to prepare the people for 
the stubborn contest against monarchial and aristocratic 
forms of government. That God does not permit 
wickedness to continue in accord with man’s wishes 
needs no comment, but if any man feels that he has a 
special privilege to exercise authority over others he 
should study the individual experience of the pioneers of 
America, for it was not a revelation to a Moses but a 
revelation to each individual, of a similar character, that 
when they acted they all had the same end in view. It 
would seem that God had become tired of giving special 
commissions to “ wise men ” who used the power to 
elevate themselves by crushing the people underfoot. 

That it required courage two hundred years ago to 
defy “the powers that be ” is almost forgotten by people 
who enjoy prosperity as a result of such courage. To 
encourage individual regeneracy upon the basis of indi¬ 
vidual experience would be too much of a shock for the 
trained subjects of society to acknowledge without a 
severe opposition. Society that enjoys an unrestricted 
privilege of an idle life, has scarcely any idea of what 
the Bible contains except a few passages that soothe the 
ennui of idleness. 


I 50 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

The individual who is controlled by his self interest, is 
neither a righteous judge nor a competent critic to deter¬ 
mine what the private rights of others are. This writing 
may be scorned and ridiculed by a person who feels that 
the social problem is settled, or at least no problem for a 
layman to bother with; but when men of a greater ability 
assume authority over others by reason of their lesser 
ability, it would be interesting to learn from what source 
they derive their authority to teach a layman, when they 
fail to arrive at a conclusion themselves. Or if they are 
not able to judge righteously toward themselves, and 
scorn the effort of a layman to have an individual opinion 
of so profound a subject as theology, it surely betrays a 
motive of injustice that even laymen can penetrate. 
Self righteousness is a private privilege equally as effect¬ 
ive to a good influence as for any man to point out the 
danger of individual justification of his own acts. The 
transition of a monarchial form of government to a form 
by which the people are supposed to rule makes it 
necessary to change the foundation that governments 
were supposed to be anchored to for all time. The 
science of logic, however, is too dense for a layman to 
indulge in, but natural intelligence is a birthright that 
no human power has been able to rob from another since 
the advent of Adam, at least history does not record any 
such happenings. 

It needs no reference to detail to show that the one 
great feature of theology is to prove that man is not an 
independent unit of humanity, that his moral obligation 
to society makes him a subject of moral training, or a 
subject of some human authority. That was very prac¬ 
tical theory to instill into the minds of the kipg’s sub- 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 151 

jects, but by practical experience the pioneers of the 
American Colonies learned that they could perform their 
moral obligation to society with no other training than 
their individual sense of human justice, and they owed no 
allegiance to any one except, as Ethan Allen put it, “ the 
Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress. ” Now it 
was extremely bold in the early days to speak openly, but 
there is traditional evidence, if no other, that such senti¬ 
ments were the silent musings of the common people. 

Natural intelligence has never received much atten¬ 
tion from either ancient or modern scribes, because all 
schools of theology were united in the oppression of the 
lowly people, and to admit that man knew anything 
before he was trained would have been very destructive 
to commercial teaching, besides aristocracy would have 
been deprived of its principal means of support. To 
make human authority in any way impressive to a lay¬ 
man it was always compared to a parental authority. It 
is beyond dispute that a parent’s influence is a great fac¬ 
tor, but what parent ever failed to notice that a child of 
any spirit was clamorous for some period when he would 
reach man’s estate. Regardless of the effort to instill 
into his mind that he would be a subject even after he 
had reached that happy condition, he could scarcely be 
restrained from declaring his rebellious spirit. The 
possibility of training a child to either good or evil is no 
question for dispute. His natural intelligence is the 
important feature and who but the individual parent 
from the observation of his child or the experience of his 
own childhood can determine the relation of natural in¬ 
telligence to the artificial ? 

Does not the child imitate, or try to, every act of the 


152 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


parent ? It proves that influence is an important feature 
and it could be claimed to be all the more important that 
the parent’s acts were above reproach, and it is quite 
reasonable to claim that his acts would have been, if his 
natural intelligence had not been bent out of shape by 
systems of training born of injustice toward humanity. 

The science of logic is a deep study from an artificial 
standpoint, but is there no parent who can attest that 
the logic of a child untrained to his letters even, will dis¬ 
play logic that puts the artificial to shame ? Besides 
the all abiding confidence of a child, shown by the effort 
to imitate every act of the parent. Is it the fault of the 
child in face of such evidence to charge the wickedness 
of art to a defect in nature for the purpose of hiding the 
duplicity of parents who will dispute with each other and 
yet agree, for the good of the child, to punish him for 
striving to outdo the example of his parents ? By this 
illustration, it needs no comment to show that art is 
always a failure in its effort to teach nature obligation 
to art. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


153 


CHAPTER XV. 

I T was a generation prior to the American Revolution 
that the natural spirit of independence began to as¬ 
sert itself, with no definite purpose, however, for no 
amount of artificial calculation can determine events prior 
to their advent; that is, experience becomes an indisput¬ 
able fact regardless of the effort of art to forestall it. 
What is equally as important, is, aristocracy never sur¬ 
renders until its food supply is exhausted when individ¬ 
ual units will condescend to become members of a com¬ 
mon humanity. There is plenty of history, prophecies 
and even the teaching of Christ, that verify these obser¬ 
vations. The garment of conceit will gradually become 
as comfortable as the bliss of ignorance; it is a neutral 
condition of society that has no possible influence upon 
civilization. 

The conflict between the colonist and a sub-aristocracy 
of a snobbery order called tories, was in active operation 
for quite a period before England took any decided step 
to enforce a strict obedience to the king’s law. It was 
previous laxness of the home government that had really 
acted as an encouragement to independent action, but 
what is the most important to notice, was the character 
of men who were the progeny of the very dregs of 
European society. The tory class was generally more 


154 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


noticed by historians as forming the controlling element 
of society, and this is the most interesting feature for a 
student of history to observe, as it reflects the relation 
of democracy to aristocracy. It ceased to be a theory 
after the practical events became established facts in 
America. 

Prejudiced opinions in regard to the duty of subjects 
to their king and also respect for law in the common 
interest of society, were a natural result of aristocratic 
conservatism but here was a situation that had no paral¬ 
lel in history even if the prejudiced mind failed to notice 
it. Natural intelligence had never in the history of the- 
world had such an opportunity to display individual de¬ 
velopment. The fact that no large communities existed 
in the interior of the country; besides, with very 
tedious means of intercourse between the small groups, 
yet the spirit of independence was first displayed among 
these small groups. It would doubtless have attracted 
more attention if future events had been even dreamed 
of. But events have to grow before they become 
ripe enough to attract the attention of those who are 
fully occupied in trying to keep a wrecked aristocracy 
afloat. 

It may be that the colonial events are of too recent 
occurrence to engage the interest of the archeologist,, 
who it would appear, was more exalted in proportion to- 
his distance from home. The eagerness for, immediate 
applaud is quite in accord with the “get-rich quick” 
sentiment of this day, besides no one in his first attempt 
for public honors would be so foolish as to even suggest 
that moral purity was only to be found among people of 
the least cultivation. It is doubtless quitp immaterial 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 155 

to the power of God what the opinions of the people are, 
but past events reflect the importance of keeping in 
touch with the more recent occurrences. 

That a community exposed to city life or the corrupt 
influences of aristocracy, should become indifferent to 
its duty toward society is not strange. Hence the ne¬ 
cessity of teaching a system of regeneracy would be 
quite apparent from the corrupting influence of society 
itself. One has only to make unbiased observations of 
historical events to satisfy individual curiosity at least. 
People who have become addicted to the habit of borrow¬ 
ing their opinions from others in proportion to their 
notoriety or social standing, would not be able to com¬ 
prehend the virtue of natural intelligence. 

Local governments were practically disconnected, in 
the interior sections and nothing but a democratic method 
of government was possible for the protection of such 
simple society as the natural surroundings would sug¬ 
gest. That Christian influence was always the most re¬ 
markable feature of lowly people was no exception to the 
American Colonist, and no doubt it was a great factor in 
the formation of the typical patriot, or the “ thieving 
rebels ” as they were called by the tories. The offic¬ 
ious character of the tories subjected them to a violent 
reception, and regardless of officers acting in the name 
of the king, only by a considerable body of men could 
the law of England be enforced. Similar to the advent 
of Christ was the advent of liberty to the American 
Colonies. It was a rebuke to the “stiffnecked nations” 
of the earth, and when God reveals himself in such a 
positive manner the wonder is that men who claim to 
be the wise men of the present will defy the power of 


156 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


God in like manner to the Egyptians, then the Jews, 
followed by the Greeks and Romans, then England in 
her arrogance of power defied even God who by “ signs ” 
and rebukes demands that the lowly of the earth shall be 
released from bondage. These parallel events should 
suggest a revision of theology before the common people 
can read the Bible and interpret it individually. Natural 
intelligence and the ability to read are sufficient to dis¬ 
cover the purpose for which the working people have 
been deceived. 

The social and moral conditions of communities sep¬ 
arated from each other under a local democratic form of 
government, compared favorably with the villages of the 
present that require a group of local politicians, a daily 
police court, several doctors, as many lawyers, a local 
jail and a convenient insane asylum. When these “ lux¬ 
uries ” are enjoyed by the progeny of the simple colonist 
who bore the brunt of battle for American Indepen¬ 
dence, it should certainly be interesting to students of 
sociology to study the cause, It is from no lack of train¬ 
ing, at least, that society is making such a demand upon 
the artificial ingenuity of man. The unity of the col¬ 
onies in their resistance to the restraining laws that 
England endeavored to force upon them was very sugges¬ 
tive of the same thought in the minds of the individual 
settler. It is idle to suppose that the separation from 
the mother country was a conception of the ultra culti¬ 
vated men of the colonies, but nevertheless it would 
appear so from modern historians who follow their pre¬ 
decessors in attributing all progress to artificial ability. 
But the conception of American Independence occurred 
in the interior among the rustic farmers in their disputes 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


157 


over land grants and the privilege to till the soil and 
possess the fruit of their labor to support their families. 
The severely cultivated men were tories who affected 
aristocratic possibilities. There were a few men that 
would be classed as cultured to a moderate degree who 
espoused the interest of the farmers, but the king’s 
agents were too energetic To permit of any open expres¬ 
sion of sentiment against the king. There was every 
reason why the cultured people should adhere to the 
crown when their personal interests were considered. 
There is enough history and romance to prove that the 
instigators of the Revolution were more remarkable for 
their lack of artificial culture than otherwise. It is with 
no reflection upon the scholarly character of some of 
the participants of the war, but it was remarkable that 
the primary agitation was from the natural intelligence 
of the farmers rather than from the artificially cultivated. 
It is no disparagement against the ambition for culture 
or education that these reflections are written, but it is 
from the disposition of the cultured to embrace the sys¬ 
tem of aristocracy, and the most remarkable feature of 
the Revolution was the absence of aristocracy in either 
the civil or military operations. Regardless of the 
political intrigues that developed after the war really com¬ 
menced, the entire movement was inspired by democratic 
principles or the fact that the only privilege that was 
ever granted by the Supreme Being to any unit of hu¬ 
manity was granted to all. 

The prejudice of the historian who recorded these 
early events is just as conspicuous as all historical rec¬ 
ords. He confines his comments to the more elevated 
class, and betrays the human disposition to profit by his 


i 5 8 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


skill in art, without recognizing the law of Nature or the 
power of God. Now these early events in America will 
become more prominent as future events develop, in 
like manner as earlier events reflected those which fol¬ 
lowed. It may take a hundred years longer before the 
importance of the American struggle for independence is 
fully appreciated. All great events that have occurred 
since David slew Goliah were little in their first concep 
tion, but great in their rebuke to the effort of man to 
elevate himself artificially in defiance of the power of God. 

The American Revolution could scarcely be called a 
war, for it was more of a skirmish than a war in compar¬ 
ison to the struggles in Europe between factions of aris¬ 
tocracy in their jealous efforts to control the very ele¬ 
ment of humanity that was so successful in America. 
The effort of historians to attribute the successful issue 
to a few remarkable leaders betrays again the disposition 
of man to magnify his own importance in proportion to 
his artificial success. That it takes more exertion to 
bear prosperity than it does to obtain it is a too well 
known fact to the individual to require any comment. 
It was no fanatical struggle to promote the glory of 
some faction, it was a struggle for human rights and 
every individual that embarked in the struggle knew he 
was right. It was the same trust in God that David ex¬ 
hibited when he went forth with such means as he had 
at hand. Catholics, Protestants and Quakers buried 
their differences and contended for a common cause. 
Besides nearly every race was represented in the motley 
group that could hardly be called an army. If the 
democratic feature of the continental army had been 
better appreciated at the time, it would have changed 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


159 


the social condition of the present, but events never 
play “ leap frog ” with each other; besides too sudden 
success in life has destroyed more men than were ever 
killed in battle, men never see the “ writing on the wall ” 
if it disturbs their personal interests. 

The personnel of the army at its first appearance can 
only be imagined from a great variety of conflicting 
accounts. The probability is that the officers had no 
better standing in society than the men behind the guns. 
There is no doubt of one very important circumstance; 
there was no individual in the army (except he was a 
traitor to the cause) that had even a trace of aristocracy 
in his composition. Such men as Ethan Allen, Putnam 
and many others made no claim to social superiority. It 
is doubtful if any body of men were ever merged to¬ 
gether in such social unity. Officers were recognized 
and obeyed for the purpose of united action rather than 
from any acknowledgment of superior talents. They 
were all democrats regardless of their cultivation or ar¬ 
tificial acquirements. They all bore the title of “men” 
and the fact that Warren fought with them at Bunker 
Hill as a private soldier is the best proof in the world 
there was no aristocracy on the hill after the first run 
at least. 

That it requires artificial ability to conduct the pro¬ 
gressive affairs of life is a self evident fact, but when 
men cannot restrain their disposition to monopolize 
•every circumstance that bids fair to yield money or glory, 
they should at least respect the man who had the ability to 
■do it. It is the skillful man who is dangerous to the 
peace of society. Hence all the prominent events of the 
world have had to contend with the disposition of man to 


i6o 


THE. DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


monopolize the benefits regardless of the source from 
which a new idea was first suggested. 

The struggle for independence in America was no ex¬ 
ception to other events that are readily grasped as soon 
as they are developed sufficiently to suggest a possibility 
of success. There were comparatively very few men in 
America who were called learned or cultivated that 
would have admitted a belief that men were equal in 
the sight of God. If they had any doubts about it their 
personal interests would generally be considered more 
important than to quibble over a doubt. Now there 
were men in America, both clergymen and farmers who- 
had become quite proficient in classic culture even, but 
their association with the rustic society of the colonies 
opened their eyes to the oppressive character of the 
generality of learned men to hold to the theory that a 
man who could be deceived was a victim of his own ig¬ 
norance, rather than allowing that any responsibility 
rested with the deceiver. 

The executive ability that was necessary to conduct a 
war was equally as important as to find men to stand 
behind the guns. With bribes and promises, all men of 
culture or executive ability were approached and urged to 
support the king. The great majority of the learned 
no doubt were tories, it made the success of the revol¬ 
ution an impossibility from a European standpoint. But 
that the more rustic characters of culture were more 
than sufficient to perform the executive and clerical 
work, the first Continental Congress would attest. The 
cultured man would be more severely dealt with by a 
court in England for supporting a democratic revolt than 
the man caught with a gun in his hand, for it could not 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


61 


be believed that common soldiers, however numerous, 
could maintain a successful warfare against the combined 
resistance of cultivated ability. It was looked upon as 
madness for an educated man to defy the king when he 
had more to lose than he could possibly gain, a thous¬ 
and farmers from the interior were not so much feared as 
an educated man. Tories were quick to tremble for the 
safety of their property, and many no doubt tried to sup¬ 
port the king in private while they publicly favored the 
revolt It was very dangerous, however, and it is very 
doubtful if an unbiased history of the Revolution was 
ever written. The traditional history will be recognized 
more five hundred years from now, when natural intelli¬ 
gence will be better appreciated than it is at the present 
time. It is a fact beyond reasonable dispute that no 
other war in the world ever represented so distinct a 
conflict between democracy and aristocracy. The order 
by which previous conflicts had been waged was com¬ 
pletely reversed. Aristocracy had always been the in¬ 
stigator of war, the common soldiers were mere hirelings 
and were not supposed to have any thoughts beyond 
what to eat and drink. 

It could scarcely be believed at the time, and possibly 
doubted at the present, that the first concerted move¬ 
ment against England was among the most lowly 
people of the colonies, and only accepted by some of the 
more elevated in society, when the pressure became so 
great that a man was forced to declare himself. It 
would be difficult for the most prejudiced writer to so 
illuminate the executive characters of the war as to en¬ 
tirely obscure its plebian origin. 

When the combined culture of the Greeks and 


162 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

Romans failed to convince the world that Christ was a 
myth because God permitted the crucifixion, it would 
not be strange if cultivated men at the present time 
would laugh at the idea that the conception of the 
American Revolution was from the natural intelligence 
of man. The fact that cultivated men as a rule did not 
subscribe to the cause at first, makes the event so strik¬ 
ingly democratic that the most simple reader could 
scarcely fail to realize it. Because the great significance 
of the event will grow in literary importance as the 
United States becomes a more homogeneous union, that 
democracy did not develop into national success at 
once, after it was so plainly revealed is because all great 
reforms are of slow growth in proportion to their great¬ 
ness. When the people are trained to worship men 
already mired in their own prejudice, the harmonizing 
influence of Nature would be too severely shocked if the 
people became good at once. God does not furnish 
“ manna ” to order, and all people who would prefer to 
remain uncivilized unless they could hire or compel 
some one else to do it for them, have always had the 
privilege if the main feature of history is reliable. If 
natural intelligence was a force that the tories and aris¬ 
tocracy had no respect for they had plenty of opportu¬ 
nity to sacrifice themselves to the goddess of artificial 
culture. When the imitation is preferable to the real, 
which is as free as water, nothing but the experience of 
a retribution from the oppressed settler would convince 
a tory that natural intelligence was as least as effective 
as the artificial. Science discovers what a good many 
tories discovered that art was constructive and execu¬ 
tive also, but that nature would assert itself at very urn- 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 163 

expected periods. Experience is the educator that civil¬ 
ization depends upon, for when the “signs” of danger 
are disregarded by even “wise men” future generations 
profit by the destruction. The present “ sign ” is that 
democracy is making rapid gains in the race with aristoc¬ 
racy, and democracy means exactly what Christianity 
stands for. 


CHAPTER XVI 

I F social conditions and progressive events were con¬ 
trolled by fixed laws individual responsibility would 
be a myth. Fatalism is a convenient word for dis¬ 
appointed people to use in their defeat, and as readily 
forgotten in their individual exertion to obtain some per¬ 
sonal advantage. The strict exclusiveness between 
nature and art would explain many seeming inconsisten¬ 
cies that tax the mind of man. That Nature would seem 
to have been the controlling power that directed the re¬ 
volt against the king would be immediately contra¬ 
dicted by the adherents of artifical intelligence, and 
called a mere accident. 

Nature has its sphere of action, governed by laws 
strictly supreme, art is the privilege of man to exercise 
his free will or liberty. If that privilege was controlled 
outside the individual conception, the responsibility 
would have to rest wherever the control was situated. 


164 the degeneracy of aristocracy. 

Nature is a constant resisting force against whatever the 
ingenuity of man with his privilege of art can bring 
to bear against her. If the people are oppressed by the 
power of art, it is not because they are ignorant of it, 
but because they lack the courage or a trust in God. 

The jugglery with words requires great ability of an 
artificial character; it reflects neither righteousness nor 
morality. The man of homespun ideas, woven from his 
natural intelligence, is timid when pitted against the ar¬ 
tificial training of another, yet all the righteousness and 
morality is embraced in natural intelligence and all the 
evil is embraced in the artificial. History reveals this 
fact, and no event reflects more evidence of it than the 
first year’s struggle of the American Colonies against the 
power of England which was in the front rank of arti¬ 
ficial intelligence. 

There is no possible method by which art can train 
natural intelligence; it can sneeringly allude to it as 
“ brute force,” but its authority is Supreme while art 
has no support but the ingenuity of man. Nothing but 
experience will develop the natural intelligence of man, 
and that is what happened to the early settlers of the 
colonies. They discovered that men who claimed to be 
their superiors were really their oppressors, and the 
superficial parade of their artificial ability was for the 
purpose of subjugation. While slaves were legally held 
in bondage as “property, ” at this period, by monarch¬ 
al governments, it was undoubtedly due to the ex¬ 
perience of the settlers that the spirit ot resistance was 
developed in every individual of similar experience. 

The first year of the Revolution demonstrated the 
possibility of a democratic form of government, but in 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


65 


the excitement incidental to a conflict at arms, no 
thought was given to the future beyond the readiness to 
risk life itself rather than submit to being oppressed. 
It was not the period of the birth of liberty, for all men 
are born with liberty as the most essential feature of 
their existence, but it was the period of the birth of 
courage enough to defend it. Man is forced by his very 
instinct to experiment with the future or progress would 
be impossible. Art is an obedient servant but a tyran¬ 
nical master, it is also a coward in the presence of Nature. 
Hence the immediate success of democratic principles 
and the terror of the tories subdued every trace of aris¬ 
tocracy, and in the excitement the Declaration of In¬ 
dependence was written and proved to be as infallible as 
the Bible, because it was inspired by natural intelligence. 
It was entirely void of either political or artificial intrigue. 
No compromise document would have received the ap¬ 
proval of the people, and some declaration of purpose 
was necessary to the further prosecution of the struggle. 

The absence of politics or theological discussions in 
the first year of the war reflected the one principle that 
democracy and Christianity stand for—a united human¬ 
ity. The tories were too frightened to offer any pro¬ 
test and were only concerned in escaping from the coun¬ 
try or to the protection of the king’s soldiers. 

The Declaration of Independence bears such a close 
relation to the vital question between aristocracy and 
democracy that every person interested in his own pri¬ 
vate rights, should give it a close study. It will be 
found in the back part of this book printed in full. Its 
relation to the constitution is as nature to art, or as 
truth to deception. It was conceived from the natural 


1 66 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

instinct, without any study of human selfishness, or a 
division of society. It could not have been otherwise 
when it is observed that a small group of people of a 
lowly order defied the most powerful nation of the earth. 
It was like David’s faith, and also like the betrayal of 
his triumph, when the whole history of the United 
States is considered. It scarcely needs repeating ex¬ 
cept to impress it upon the individual mind, that man as 
a rule is selfish in proportion to whatever authority or 
artificial ability he possesses. The reason why it is so no 
individual need to ask, for it is a question he can always 
answer himself after he has read the “ Golden Text” 
and the Declaration of Independence, the latter senti¬ 
ment evidently was borrowed from the former. That 
man is born with equal privilege to exercise his natural 
intelligence, no man can dispute without betraying an 
aristocratic disposition. Despotism, tyranny, slavery 
and artificial conceit are responsible for all the wars, 
and but for Nature’s protection of the lowly the higher 
class of society would destroy the entire human race. 
No one is asked to believe such a statement, for God 
never put humanity on earth so they would have an 
opportunity to entirely destroy each other. No individ¬ 
ual need feel disturbed at any seeming neglect of Nature 
for she has always displayed a governing power that 
man has never done better than to imitate. Democracy 
is humanity regardless of any degree of talent, either 
natural or acquired, and when it is observed that Nature 
governs by protecting the majority an unprejudiced man 
could suggest no better form of government. 

The example of the colonies betrayed the fact that a 
democratic form of government was possible when no 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


167 


other interests were involved than one of humanity, but 
when trade, commerce and greed were involved the com¬ 
mon welfare was forgotten. The Declaration of Inde¬ 
pendence declared distinctly what the people were fight¬ 
ing for. The man who could not read even could un¬ 
derstand it, and even children and fools would listen in¬ 
tently when it was expounded from the stump and every 
pulpit. The second year of the war had scarcely past 
without witnessing a jealous spirit between the Conti¬ 
nental officers and sectional interests. It was subdued 
by the exertion of a very few men of unquestioned abil¬ 
ity, but what was better, they were willing, like the 
common soldiers to sacrifice all personal interests for the 
common welfare. Union was the watchword on every 
hand, and the grumbler would be dubbed a tory, so un¬ 
popular was any expression that would seem to endanger 
the success of the army. If any cause ever had divine 
protection the American Revolution did, for half the 
soldiers that England sent to the colonies could have 
destroyed the Continentals in twenty four hours, if they 
could have been caught in some cleared space. 

Washington and many of the troopers were perfectly 
familiar with wilderness warfare, greatly to the advan¬ 
tage of the Continentals, hence the problem became 
more difficult for England as the struggle continued. 
Every attempt of the British to march troops into the 
interior met with disaster that was fairly a puzzle to the 
king and his counsellors. The aristocracy and all the 
professional men of Europe would have laughed at the 
time, had anyone been bold enough to even called it a 
contest of democracy against aristocracy. The Holy 
Alliance was considered strong enough to protect mon- 


168 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


archy and incidentally whatever oppression that aristoc¬ 
racy chose to inflict upon the common people. It is 
quite noticeable that people of aristocratic ideas even take 
very little interest in philosophical subjects. They 
show annoyance and even distress in the presence of logi¬ 
cal discussions. Such indifference is very suggestive of 
a complete satisfaction in artificial culture. People be¬ 
come so vain in their ability to make quotations and 
parade superficial talent that society in monarchial 
governments is much more congenial. It has no effect 
as a civilizing force. Besides it is yet to be shown in 
history if any event ever occurred when any group of 
aristocracy ever voluntarily surrendered their privilege. 
Fatalism is a convenient doctrine for all who have been 
trained to believe that their future has been carefully 
prepared for them, no responsibility may be a happy 
condition, but it was no assistance to the growth of the 
United States. 

That the individual or nation have to earn whatever 
progress they receive in the world, would seem more 
probable than that an over ruling providence relieves the 
people from responsibility. Disease is the only excuse 
that any person can offer why they should be relieved from 
responsibility. It is doubtful if any medical expeit 
could deny that aristocracy and specific training were a 
disease, and practically an irresponsible condition. While 
the most learned men are continually contending* over 
metaphysical responsibility, homespun ideas are cer¬ 
tainly in order, since monarchy has been superseded by 
a nation, “for the people and by the people. ” It. is a 
question, worthy of study at least, if schools of theology 
and philosophy, even adapted to a supposed infallible 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


169 


monarchy, are in order, when a possible democratic 
government is in view. What is termed the “ danger¬ 
ous class ” has a very different significance when applied 
to a nation where every unit of humanity is supposed to 
be a part of the government. If people have to be first 
fitted for such grave responsibilities, what human author¬ 
ity is privileged to prepare others in the performance of 
a duty, of which every unit of humanity is equally 
privileged. 

The most devoted man, to whatever cause he may 
have subscribed cannot claim authority over any other 
citizen who is equally entitled to the same privilege. 
There was never a greater deception practiced upon the 
lowly people, than to even claim that men of greater 
ability as a class were ever sincere in trying to improve 
the lowly people, or prepare them for self government. 
The American Revolution is a recorded rebuke to the 
false doctrine of training people to a condition of self 
government. The people never received the least en¬ 
couragement from the more scholarly class, who with 
rare exception were tories. Future events were still more 
proof that the first idea of independence was derived 
from the persistent clamor of the most obscure people of 
the colonies. It was the “star of empire ” that inspired 
the signers of the Declaration of Independence, for no 
one had the remotest idea of what a popular govern¬ 
ment really meant. Even the commonest people had got 
no farther than to feel by their natural instinct the right 
to fight against oppression. It never occurred to slave 
holders, that they had knocked the shackles off their 
slaves, literally, by signing the Declaration of Indepen¬ 
dence. No events in history are more prominent than 


170 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

those which show the indifference to any reforms of gov¬ 
ernment when the personal interest of the ruling class- 
was involved. Men who would buy white people kid¬ 
napped in Europe, or the deported Catholics sent to 
America by ship loads, had no respect for human rights. 
Hence independence should rest where it belongs, with 
the hardy farmers who had scarcely any cultivation other 
than what they derived from natural intelligence. It 
was as simple as gravitation; the people had the natural 
instinct of freedom, and there being nothing to either 
frighten or restrain them they burst forth. But the dis¬ 
position of man to monopolize anything he could derive 
benefit from was just as prominent in America as in 
Europe. 

That Washington was the right man in the right 
place would seem to be providential, but he never claimed,, 
at least there is no record, of his being called of God 
either by vision or dream to lead the Americans out of 
bondage, yet no man or “ saint ” ever did more for hu¬ 
manity than he did. Literary disputants could amuse* 
themselves by searching records to find some flaw in the 
life of Washington. His relation to the emancipation of 
humanity from monarchial and aristocratic authority will 
go down in history as humanity believes it, rather than 
according to the writings of some pro-aristocratic histo¬ 
rian. 

Because society was not in a condition to accept such 
a radical change as the immediate supremacy of democ¬ 
racy over aristocracy, it did not detract from the well 
authenticated convictions of Washington. 

If no more had been accomplished than establishing a. 
possible form of government other than monarchial, it 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. I / I 

shows a more progressive century than any other since 
the birth of Christ. It is the general character of events 
that is more conspicuous in the progress of the world, 
rather than disputed details, for after new ideas become 
established facts, it is idle to quibble over details. 
There are plenty of men of recognized ability who can 
elaborate over the details of successful events, who 
would not dare to advance an idea beyond some pre¬ 
scribed limit. 

The very limited means that Washington had, showed 
his genius to a greater advantage. His successful re¬ 
treats, and ability to hold all the interior territory was 
the one feature of the war that made it almost impossible 
for an invading army however large to entrap him. The 
wilderness was more dangerous to the British army than 
the Continentals. Braddock’s defeat was too well remem¬ 
bered to make it very encouraging to move far from the 
coast. Burgoyne’s attempt to march into the interior 
proved how dangerous it was to move away from a base 
of supplies. Hence the battle of Saratoga was the 
crowning battle of the war. It brought assistance from 
France which materially helped the American Colonies. 
It had no effect, however, to disclose the relation of 
democracy to a system of government. It is not appar¬ 
ent in history that any definite idea of government ever 
existed that did not recognize a ruling class, which could 
be just as oppressive as a system of aristocracy supported 
by a king. If any ruling class of society ever suggested 
any actual reforms in methods of government history 
fails to record it. The fact that all nations of the earth 
justified chattel slavery, made any existing form of 
government as brutal as a monarchy even if it was called 


172 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


a Republic. While the one feature existed in the 
people’s minds, that one individual could by reason of a 
personal feeling of superiority demand a recognition of 
h>eing a privileged character, the main feature of democ¬ 
racy would remain in abeyance. 

Men are credulous in proportion to their ignorance, 
and successful officers could easily gain the confidence 
of the simple minded men like the American soldiers. 
It did not detract from a firm conviction of what con¬ 
stituted oppression. Besides the word aristocracy 
doubtless conveyed the idea of a title of nobility. The 
average menial will naturally show marked respect 
toward a person of greater information, it was taught by 
all religious societies. Hence the average Continental 
soldier had no idea of what he was fighting for specifically, 
except that he knew he had a natural right to be free. 
The fact that credulity can be taken advantage of should 
reveal to a sincere Christian that it did not condemn such 
a person to servitude or subjugation. Natural intelli¬ 
gence reveals to a person what he is entitled to, while 
he may be ignorant of a method to obtain it. On the 
one hand it made the man of superior ability feel that he 
had a perfect right to an authority over one of lesser 
ability, who on the other hand being credulous would ap¬ 
pear submisive entirely unconscious of any injustice. 

What can be expected of a man after he discovers his 
confidence has been betrayed ? The least protest from 
a man who was deliberately deceived, he would find him¬ 
self in irons, while his deceiver would go free. It is 
very , evident from the various histories that a serious 
condition existed in the Continental army after the 
surrender of Burgoyne and the introduction of French 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


173 


officers. The prospect of a successful issue stimulated 
the appetite for'glory and honor among the American 
officers, and after a man becomes diseased with selfish¬ 
ness he will have very little regard for the rights of 
others. There is not a particle of doubt but that the 
American officers as a rule felt that the entire success 
of the war was due to their efforts rather than any merit 
of the common soldier. The influence of the French 
officers doubtless contributed somewhat to the estrange¬ 
ment between officers and common soldiers. 

This condition that history plainly reveals, by its lau¬ 
dation of the official element in all wars shows one feat¬ 
ure in an indisputable degree, that the lowly of human¬ 
ity have no prospect of relief from the oppression of the 
more favored, except by their natural intelligence. It 
would seem paradoxical for a man who had suffered from 
the oppression of others to display the same disposition 
of oppression that he in his adversity had severely de¬ 
nounced. It could be explained by the fact that the 
progress of humanity depends upon some incentive, but 
after becoming elevated to a higher position he becomes 
a victim of a change of mind, and can readily be conver¬ 
ted to the most pernicious condition of society that 
humanity has to contend with—a typical aristocracy. 

While adversity is borne in comparative peace and 
social harmony, the least prosperity suggests a contention 
until warfare of some kind is resorted too. It is simple 
to see that Christian unity is impossible, while the 
average man cannot bear prosperity without trying to 
monopolize everything and impose upon the very class 
of society that he sprung from. Whatever reform a 
man is subject to his disposition to monopolize whatever 


174 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


lie gets hold of shows that he had the disposition of de¬ 
pravity that training developed, rather than offering any 
relief. 

When a new theology bursts forth and reveals the 
fact that wickedness is at the top of society rather than 
the bottom, the example of Christ will be better under¬ 
stood, and also the early struggle for American Indepen¬ 
dence. The surrender of Cornwallis closed the war 
and also showed the contempt that the British officers 
showed the Americans by saluting the French, and 
omitting the courtesy as they passed in review in front 
of the Americans. The circumstance made it all the 
more apparent that democracy had won a victory oyer 
aristocracy that the world had never witnessed before. 
The civil strife, however, that followed the victory, gave 
a better idea of what democracy has to contend with. 
A man who sells his birthright for superficial glory, or 
commercial gain, will never be convinced of his mistake, 
for, “as the twig is bent the tree inclines. ” 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


175 


CHAPTER XVII. 

T HE last gun of the Revolutionary war had been fired 
and the common soldier went home to his plow 
with a feeling that the war had demonstrated that 
one man had the same privilege to exist upon the earth 
as another. Their trust in the Continental Congress 
was so great that no fear for the future was even 
imagined. One might as well try to turn a birch tree 
into an oak as to change the disposition of man to 
monopolize any event that gave promise of a profit to 
himself. The men are rare who ever publicly displayed 
a disposition of self sacrifice for the common benefit. 
But for the fact of a few men who had the courage to de¬ 
fend the principle of democracy on the floor of Congress 
the war would have been a complete failure. 

The contest over the spoils of victory was more severe 
than the war itself, for it requires more strength of 
character to act honorably in the hour of success than to 
bear adversity. The war demonstrated that the struggle 
for freedom harmonized society. Men of high or low 
degree, of whatever religious belief, could associate to¬ 
gether, but when the fruits were to be divided, the 
official element could agree that it all belonged to them, 
and when it came to individual division each would de¬ 
clare it all belonged to himself. The science of govern- 


176 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


ment had to be studied from the existing forms irt 
Europe, and to venture upon any new principle would 
arouse the fears of the timid, while it opened afresh the 
contentions between the Catholic and Protestant. 

Chattel slavery was an established institution at the 
close of the war, and the conflicting interests appeared 
as legion when anything like a federation of States was- 
considered. The Declaration of Independence was the 
only foundation of a governing character that the States- 
relied upon, and the situation at the close of the war was- 
the existence of thirteen sovereign States in a very 
chaotic condition. The States individually were demo¬ 
cratic in principles of government, and the common 
people were in no hurry to be governed. So far as self 
interests were concerned as a promoter of an aristocratic 
system, the Americans were as much inclined to it as 
the Europeans, besides the Northern people of a demo¬ 
cratic order were considered as of no greater importance 
than the chattel slaves. It is the individual privilege to 
compare histories with what traditional knowledge he 
may possess to form a clear idea of what the actual con¬ 
ditions were immediately after the war. The fact that it 
was held to be a divine privilege to own slaves, both white 
or black, would seem to prove that slave holders at least 
would not have any scruples about adopting a system of 
aristocracy. The same privilege that permitted them to- 
own slaves could be stretched by imagination at least, 
until they felt they were privileged to be superior tO’ 
their neighbors. 

It would seem that historians who wrote enthusias¬ 
tically about the blessings of liberty, and “land of the 
free ” were prompted by a blind fancy when they ap- 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


77 


plied the sentiment to the early promoters of the govern¬ 
ment, with scarcely a recognition of the obscure people 
who were the only unbiased factors in the “ land of the 
free.” It was quite evident after England had acknowl¬ 
edged the Independence of the United States that aris¬ 
tocratic sentiment had sprung up with the prospect of 
profit and glory which bade fair to endanger the peace of 
the States even more than the war with England. 

It is the individual privilege to speculate upon the 
principle of government even to the indulgence of freaks 
of imagination; it need not disturb, however, the equal 
privilege of another to indulge in whatever exceptions 
he chooses to consider. It is an elementary fact that 
society demands some form of government, it is so self 
evident that any society would establish a system of 
some character. If man could establish in his own mind 
that natural conditions never change, he would have a 
clear field for investigation. No proof exists that the 
laws of Nature ever change. The disposition of man to 
endeavor to control others for his own benefit regardless 
of whatever cultivation he receives, would seem to be as 
fixed as Nature itself. It explains the reason why 
society is dependent upon some form of government. 

It is within the sphere of the individual to correct or 
improve whatever disposition to do evil he either discov¬ 
ers by experience or from the influence of others. That 
idea embraces the principle of moral suasion, to the 
absolute exclusion however, of any moral training of a 
compulsory character. While ancient history gives evi¬ 
dence enough of compulsory moral training, it fails to 
show any successful results which the wars of the past 
give ample proof. The Declaration of Independence 


i 7 8 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


suggests the purity of divine inspiration as reflected by 
the Bible. It could be observed that learned men signed 
it while they were intoxicated with democratic ideas and 
so filled with the spirit of liberty, that their natural in¬ 
telligence prevailed over the possibility of their artificial 
judgment quibbling with the document for some hidden 
purpose. 

No man in the enjoyment of his natural faculties 
would ever suggest an amendment to the truth. His¬ 
tory, however, reveals a very paradoxical condition when 
the prominent men of America were called upon to estab¬ 
lish a Federal Government to include all the vagaries that 
human interests were wedded to. The Declaration of 
Independence was good enough, it was also the principal 
trouble, yet it was better than the men who signed it. 
It was very fortunate for the welfare of America, for 
however determined the slaveholder and aristocrat were 
to protect their personal interests, they had subscribed 
to a document that revealed their perfidy as reflected in 
a mirror. But for that document constantly being held 
up to the view of the signers, a monarchy would have 
been established in America at once instead of the 
apology that we have for a democracy. 

If it is human to err no man can formulate a system 
that will establish a special privilege for him to continue 
to err. If the signers of the Declaration of Indepen¬ 
dence were ignorant of the force of the document, they 
were not ignorant of the advantage it was to the welfare 
of humanity. The only feature that they staggered un¬ 
der was, there was not a single loop hole to justify a 
man’s right to property in man. It was an oversight in 
their eagerness to encourage the farmers to fight against 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


179 


the power of England. The signatures suggested a 
common interest, while the motive was thoroughly ex¬ 
posed in the discussions in Congress. No man could 
defend the institution of chattel slavery consistently 
without excluding the free laborer from equality with 
himself. 

The Declaration of Independence exposed another 
feature that reflects upon the dispute between the Cath¬ 
olic and Protestant. The holding to various theories 
that practically justified a system of aristocracy is effected 
not from the mere declaration of principles, but the 
fact of establishing a republican form, pointing to a 
possible democratic government. When it is revealed 
to the silent reader of history the extent of the injustice 
that aristocracy is responsible for, nothing but a demo¬ 
cratic form will satisfy the people. The effort to main¬ 
tain compulsory authority over the personal right of the 
individual embraces the institution of chattel slavery, and 
equally as inconsistent in the light of the Declaration of 
Independence. 

The equality of man is an equal interest in a govern¬ 
ment that is compelled by the whole people to recognize 
the private rights of the individual. The success of an 
anti-monarchial government makes an individual a 
usurper to even pretend that a system of training is 
necessary to fit a man for a popular form of government. 
No man, regardless of whatever degree of ability he may 
possess could possibly be superior to a state formed 
upon the lines that the Declaration of Independence re¬ 
veals. A strictly popular government when democracy 
goes into business for itself, will be protective rather than 
instructive. When moral instruction was formulated for 


l8o 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


the protection of aristocracy, and men who are thus pro¬ 
tected deny their own signatures to promote self inter¬ 
ests, where can virtue be found except in the innocence 
of childhood ? Would any but a slave holder or aristo¬ 
crat advocate the compulsory training of a child in the 
effort to make it as wicked as themselves. When his 
satanic majesty forms a “trust ” to corner the teaching 
of Christianity no protection to humanity will exist ex¬ 
cept in the simple mind of the child with a privilege to 
learn to read, when the duplicity of man will be revealed 
without any assistance. 

History reveals what is often remarked as the stupid¬ 
ity of the past. It also reflects to the sense of imagina¬ 
tion the possibilities of the future. It is a fact however,, 
that a vast amount of mental energy has been wasted in 
the vain effort to justify the evils of a dynastic rule. 
Besides more is added to previous waste by soothing the 
conscience with some familiar adage as “all things are 
for the best. ” It is too fatalistic for a responsible 
being to indulge in ; it is more to the point to admit 
frankly “there is reason in all things.” 

The United States previous to the adoption of a con¬ 
stitution presented a problem that required great ability 
to solve, and what was more important, forbearance. 
The necessity for union was the only condition of har¬ 
mony that existed, and democracy was always shrouded 
in dangerous possibilities, hence it preferred to sacrifice 
its greatest hope the same as the mother who to save the 
child from the judgment of Solomon would surrender 
her own claim to it. The infant republic was at least 
anti-monarchial in sentiment, which counted as a gain for 
civilization. This writing however, is not a review of 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY, 1 8 1 

history except as it relates to the contest between aris¬ 
tocracy and democracy for governmental supremacy. 

Conditions have to be accepted as they exist, and the 
present generation can afford to feel generous toward 
our forefathers, for it is doubtful if any body of men of 
equal number at the present time would have done any 
better. There is more reason and also more compati¬ 
bility for the introduction of democracy at the present 
time, which is the individual effort of the writer to dem¬ 
onstrate. The reflections of the early struggle upon the 
present chaotic condition of society is an important fac¬ 
tor in the revelation of a practical remedy. 

The one rebuke of the Declaration of Independence 
and a perfect parallel to the scriptures suggests the dan¬ 
ger of selfishness in “high places; ” besides to discuss 
the principle of sacrifice to a conclusion would reveal the 
fanatical delusion of the Hindoos. Language itself 
would seem to have been arranged with special regard to 
its being quibbled with, yet it is the one method to effect 
a mutual understanding. There is always a principle 
above the method employed to express it, and the man 
who is so flattered by his ability to criticise methods of 
expression, not only wastes his time, but betrays his 
conceit also. A sacrifice is only such in name when a 
motive presages the event in the expectation of a greater 
personal reward than would, in all probability, have 
occurred if the sacrifice had not been made. It is a 
private right of the individual to determine the motive of 
a sacrifice. If it is to gain glory or some specific recog¬ 
nition, of moral rectitude, in the absence of which the 
sacrifice is lamented, it is a mere farcical event, more ri¬ 
diculous than wise. The crucifixion of Christ illustrated 


182 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


the principle of a sacrifice, but when language can so 
distort the event, as to justify the most selfish desires, 
the participant is as hopelessly lost as Esau was when 
he sold his birthright. Aristocracy is a gilded temptation 
for the weak minded to embrace when it is of such an 
adhesive character that nothing but a cyclone or earth¬ 
quake will effect a reform. It is absolutely convincing 
to an aristocrat that “God rewards the righteous by giv¬ 
ing them a more exalted station in life, while he punishes 
the wicked with poverty and severe labor/’ 

The discussion in Congress over the federation of the 
Independent States revealed the real character and 
actual supremacy of democracy over aristocracy as a 
righteous principle. The mental ability was decidedly 
on the democratic side, to a marked degree. It really 
marked the degeneracy of aristocracy more conspicuously 
than any previous event in the world’s history. When a 
man is on a burning ship, he will more naturally jump 
into the water than be destroyed by fire, and that is 
what democracy did in the first Congress of America. 

The growth of civilization is not radical, for it is plainly 
revealed in history that no reforms occur in the upper 
strata of human society. It is the children of social de¬ 
bauchery that civilize society, not such as are forced or 
persuaded to subscribe to the goddess aristocracy, but 
what is looked upon as the dregs of humanity. People 
who are constantly praying for prosperity, would not 
recognize it if it was delivered at the back door. From 
the advent of the Israelites, there is no evidence that 
society would be convinced by sages, prophets or clergy 
by any method other than actual experience. 

There is reason to think that the debates in Congress 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


83 


were of a more acrimonious character than any records 
reveal, the danger of the States taking up arms again 
and fighting each other was barely averted by the more 
radical democrats who sacrificed their principles in the 
interest of union. That the right to hold slaves was 
not directly assailed would appear to be of such common 
interest that a compromise with evil was inevitable. The 
Declaration of Independence had to be sacrificed as well 
as democracy. That the debaters had revealed a con¬ 
dition when principles were uttered superior to the men 
who uttered them was quite obvious. None of the 
States would sacrifice anything that was profitable, and 
any circumstance that would occur, that revealed a 
possibility of menials becoming units of equality in the 
formation of a nation was equally repulsive to the entire 
personel of the American Congress. The most essential 
feature of the Declaration of Independence was like a 
thorn to the flesh, and only men familiar with the science 
of diplomacy could eloquently convince the very signers 
of it, “how ambiguous it really was.” 

Flattery and a well directed system of patronage will 
win more valuable service from a menial than a severe 
arrogance of manner. To be continually successful the 
motive must be carefully disguised, for a person in pro¬ 
portion to his simplicity will fiercely resent the betrayal 
of his confidence. Hence the common farmers and 
menials of the period were devoted to their “ patron 
saints ” with scarcely a thought of their interests being 
betrayed. It introduced into American politics what is 
known as “the boss” even before the constitution was 
ratified. It mattered not in the tavern and grocery 
store discussions what kind of a constitution was adopted 


184 THE degeneracy of aristocracy. 

if John Adams approved of it. “Why, didn’t he sign 
the document that declared all men are born equal and 
subject, to nobody after we licked England.” The men 
who framed the Constitution knew what the document 
meant; the delegates who were chosen for the work con 
tended for some safeguard to protect the common inter¬ 
ests, and while they frankly confessed themselves as ser¬ 
vants and representatives of the people, they were con¬ 
vinced by their own eloquence, that it was only the cul¬ 
tivated people that the destiny of America could depend 
upon. Hence they practically agreed to consider them¬ 
selves as the masters of the people, for the slave holding 
interest instilled that idea into the minds of a large 
majority of the delegates. The Declaration of Indepen¬ 
dence was practically abandoned as having any bearing 
upon the drafting of a Constitution. It had rendered a 
good service and the people who had so much confidence 
in the delegates, would offer no objection to whatever 
was agreed upon by Congress. The delegates educated 
themselves to a firm conviction that they were masters 
of the situation and no human power could question their 
acts providing the States would ratify them by a vote of 
the people. It is the tracks they left behind them that 
concern the present reader of history more than the 
consideration of what might have been if the United 
States had adopted an honest democracy instead of 
fostering a republic upon the people as a mere apology, 
and then tickling the people at large with democratic 
sentiment. Because the simple minded people could 
neither see or feel the shackles, they really enjoyed being 
citizens of a fraud in the innocence of their ignorance. 

The white people, deceived into rivetting their own 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


I8 5 


shackles, in some respects were in a worse condition 
than chattel slaves, for slaves being “ property ” were too 
valuable to permit of their being starved to death. Our 
forefathers were quite as ignorant of railroads and teleg¬ 
raphy as a means of daily information as the autocrats 
of Rome or England were. Hence it is idle at the pres¬ 
ent time to think the same methods can be successfully 
used to deceive the people as our forefathers used who 
acknowledged it by their own signatures. Sentimental 
citizenship has accomplished wonders, but what are the 
prospects, when the people become citizens in reality ? 


CHAPTER XVIII 

T HE Constitution of the United States as adopted by 
the original thirteen States was a Vague and ambig¬ 
uous document. Its greatest merit was the ingen¬ 
uity displayed in disguising the only essential feature of 
a popular form of government, or the will of the people. 
It was framed upon the same principle that Jacob doubt¬ 
less employed in persuading Esau to sell his birthright. 
It could well be contended that sovereign states were 
merely seeking an alliance as a protective measure 
against monarchial governments. 

It was not because chattel slavery was a recognized 
institution in all the States, but because a few men 
frankly declared by their authority as representives of 


186 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


those States, that they were privileged to deceive all the 
people in all the States, simply because they possessed 
the ability to do it. They, by the only interpretation that 
could be justly applied to their acts as reflected by the 
Declaration of Independence, adopted the very funda¬ 
mental principle of aristocracy. It was certainly unnec¬ 
essary in forming a Federal government for mutual pro¬ 
tection, to adopt the first principles that all monarchies- 
rested upon. If the States were sovereign, which all de¬ 
clared, with a perfect right and so recognized by England, 
it was decidedly ambiguous to practically declare in a. 
written document by men who asumed to be more 
learned than the average of their countrymen, that a. 
sovereign power could be established over a sovereign 
power, or that two atoms could occupy the same place. 
What was accomplished by securing the ratification of 
the Constitution, was the practical surrender of thirteen 
Sovereign States to one Sovereign—the United States, 
of America. 

The men who framed the Constitution showed too- 
much ability for anyone to attempt to shield them by 
the least suggestion of ignorance. Like all thieves 
who become conceited over their ability to steal, they 
feel that the same ability will serve them in covering 
their tracks. There is no “ sovereign citizen ” at the 
present time that need to feel grateful toward our early 
statesmen for the liberty we “enjoy.” Besides there 
were no citizens in the United States after they were 
coerced, or their intelligence betrayed by a mere form of 
ratifying the Constitution—they were subjects. 

Any ordinary school boy of the present time could 
have prefaced the Constitution in a more appropriate 


'i HE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 187 

manner than the early statesmen. It betrays great 
ability as an effort to proclaim something without mean¬ 
ing anything. The greatest effort is betrayed in the 
whole document to disguise the fact that our first Con¬ 
gress decided to usurp the rulling power of the govern¬ 
ment and establish a ruling class in exact imitation of 
monarchial governments. They did not take the people 
into their confidence, because thieves never warn their 
victims in advance. 

It would have been a simple matter to have referred 
to the Declaration of Independence as a fundamental 
principle, but they preferred to let that remain to amuse 
the people with, while they were trying to hide the 
shackles in the Constitution. 

The self-asserted privilege of an attorney to act for 
another person from the presumption that such person is 
incapable of knowing what is for his best interest, is 
aristocracy, and to logically hold to such a claim it must 
embrace a divine privilege. It is more the purpose of 
this writing to show the relation of aristocracy to an 
undeniable necessity for the government of society at 
large, than to cast any reproach upon the early states¬ 
men. The circumstances existing at the period would 
doubtless excuse many of the acts. The only commend¬ 
able feature of the Constitution that makes a democracy 
possible in the future without the resort to weapons of 
war is the fifth article which makes it possible to amend 
it. It is the only article that reflects any chance for the 
people ever becoming citizens of the United States. 

When a large majority of the people of the United 
States read their paper every day they become a tribunal 
that combined politics cannot deceive. The sentimental 


188 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


eulogies that are extensively paraded will not divert a 
man’s attention from his own judgment. 

People who hold to aristocratic permanency should re¬ 
flect that it requires standing armies in every State of 
Europe close at hand to keep democracy from springing 
into existence. This writing may contain a great deal 
of unnecessary husk, but if the central feature is the 
better preserved, the husk can be cast aside. 

The people in good faith fought aristocracy for eight 
years, and were persuaded by every orator of the period 
that a great victory had been won. Generations have 
lived and died in a full belief in what sentimental orators 
proclaimed, but as the fruit of duplicity ripened it 
dawned upon posterity what our forefathers were happily 
ignorant of. If a defaulter dies before his acts are pub¬ 
licly discovered, it could be hoped that his conscience 
was as lenient as possible toward him, but his victims 
could scarcely be expected to honor his memory. 

The dissensions of our early statesmen would seem to 
prove that some of them at least defended the principle 
that the war was fought for. The result shows that the 
great majority had no respect for human rights beyond 
their own selfish desires. The attempt to eulogize John 
Adams at this late day, unless it was to honor him as 
the father of American aristocracy, would make the tri¬ 
bunal of the common people laugh. He signed the 
Declaration of Independence, and England had scarcely 
recognized the thirteen sovereign States before he tried 
to convert them into a monarchy. It was no doubt the 
sentiment of the majority of Congress, but Washington 
could not be persuaded to accept the crown, after which 
it was arranged to fall upon the head of Adams and his 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


189 


lineal descent. The opposition of Washington was a set¬ 
back to the conspirators. He was too great an idol of 
the people to be cast aside, hence the introduction of a 
political system by the ingenuity of Adams that prac¬ 
tically reduced the status of the citizen of the sovereign 
States to a subject of the United States. 

Sentimental fury will not convince a man that can 
read the daily paper that he is a unit even in the govern¬ 
ment that was formulated very largely by Adams. The 
present aristocracy in the United States is the only class 
that has any reason to be proud of him. Benedict 
Arnold was branded a traitor for simply betraying a 
single fortress, while Adams betrayed the entire thirteen 
States, and was honored with a monument. 

That the early statesmen were intoxicated with per¬ 
sonal greed while they vied with each other in patriotic 
illumination, the chains on the slaves would attest. It 
was quite probable that John Adams employed his ships 
to bring negroes from Africa, and to permit of a slight 
imagination, one could think that he sent out teachers 
who would teach them to sing on arrival, “ The Star 
Spangled Banner” and “ Praise God from whom all 
blessings flow.” 

American aristocracy was distinct from its prototype 
in Europe. It was a fiat of the United States Congress, 
and lacked the one feature peculiar to the universal sys¬ 
tem previous to the cunning of John Adams, that aris¬ 
tocracy laid claim to a supreme privilege. 

Since American statesmen had committed themselves 
to the Declaration of Independence they had severed 
connection with England as entirely as if America had 
floated off into space a distinct planet. Hence American 


190 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

aristocracy was a new decree as fresh as the United 
States itself. It was a brilliant imitation of the original 
system, and while the European system depended upon 
standing armies, the American system was wholly de¬ 
pendent upon wit. Nothing but culture would entitle 
an American to a position in the first class of American 
aristocracy, while in Europe aristocrats were born. 
“ Yankee ” ingenuity was presumptious enough to think 
it could turn out a superior article by human agency 
alone. 

It is one of the greatest difficulties in the world to 
convince a man that others can see for him better than 
he can see himself. Our early “fathers” are entitled 
to the credit of performing that feat to such perfection 
that it would appear from the reading of history that 
they were so astute they succeeded in convincing them¬ 
selves. The precedent of ancient history was no doubt 
quoted to prove whatever the selfishness of man desired 
to accomplish. It is certainly clear that the Declaration 
of Independence was not signed in good faith, for there 
was no evidence that the representatives of the people 
had any intention of recognizing the relation of man to 
society that the Declaration of Independence proclaimed. 

There were no doubt some of the early statesmen who 
were grievously disappointed in the betrayal of the great 
trust that the people had in their representatives, but 
the minority was so small that they could be pointed to 
in derision, for all ruling powers will protect their 
authority before the interests of others are considered. 

That the representatives of the thirteen States delib¬ 
erately betrayed the common people on the supposition 
that they were not competent to detect the deceit is 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


19 


very evident at the present time, from events that 
followed the adoption of the Constitution, they knew 
what they were doing at the time much better than they 
•could determine the effect of their acts upon the future. 
Whatever class of society at the present time profits by 
the treachery of the iramers of the Constitution can no 
doubt justify the act on precisely the same ground that 
the treachery was explained, but the people who can 
read cannot be prevented from detecting the duplicity, 
and what is more important, they will discover that the 
most strenuous effort is being exerted at the present 
to control the common people in like manner. Human 
beings cannot exist forever upon Fourth of July orations 
or imaginary principles and the wonders of liberty, they 
become sullen and thoughtful when the motive grad¬ 
ually dawns upon their minds. 

Physical strength, or what is sometimes termed “ brute 
force ” was practically ignored by the early statesmen, 
and the same is just as true at the present time in the 
United States as in the most autocratic nation of 
Europe. It is this feature that makes any writing in 
behalf of the oppressed people very ineffectual, for it will 
have no influence upon those who understand it. While 
physical force as a means of defence grows stronger in 
proportion to individual numbers, culture or the Ameri¬ 
can system of aristocracy grows weak in proportion to 
its numerical strength. The right of defence is the one 
privilege that the spirit of liberty reveals to every living 
thing; the most available method at hand would be 
justified, hence whether it is “brute force” or “mental 
force ” that is employed, it does not materially affect the 
righteousness of the defence. 


92 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


It was evidently the aim of American aristocracy to 
control the physical strength of the common people by 
mental ingenuity rather than imitate the methods in vogue 
in Europe. Men who would justify themselves in hold¬ 
ing slaves as property would by the same line of reason¬ 
ing claim it to be right to deceive anyone who was 
ignorant of the deception. 

Popular sovereignty could not be tolerated by people 
who were more devoted to personal gain than to the 
common interest of humanity. The Declaration of In¬ 
dependence could be explained to mean that the people 
were relieved from the oppression of England. All the 
national anthems could be taught to the children, and 
the blessings of liberty could be so elaborately ex¬ 
pounded, that it would seem by all they were in the full 
enjoyment of it. The process of government had to be 
carefully explained, and no one was supposed to know 
what he was voting for, but could readily be convinced 
by some prominent man who smiled his convictions upon 
the credulous voter. Every important feature of mon¬ 
archal government was copied except the establishing 
of a figure head and calling him a king. 

Washington would not consent to so grossly betray 
the interest of the people, and it was no doubt due to his- 
influence that neither titles nor monarchical terms were 
employed in framing the Constitution. The people as a. 
rule were more interested in their local governments,, 
which were not disturbed by Federal relations. Besides, 
both State and Federal officials were very patronizing 
toward the people, and so much was proclaimed in regard 
to “ we the people ” and “ servants ” of the people, as 
elected officials declared themselves to be, that it gave 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


193 


to every individual a feeling of sovereignty. That such 
feeling was entirely sentimental the legislators proved by 
their actions in restricting the right of suffrage to some 
specific qualification. It was a most outrageous assump¬ 
tion of authority, which exposed the duplicity of the 
people’s representatives more than any other previous act. 

It showed that the people had natural intelligence and 
as quick to defend any encroachment upon their inter¬ 
ests as the legislators were to defend theirs. The Decla¬ 
ration of Independence was taught to children before 
they could read, and that was the people’s law whether 
the Federal government recognized it or not. The en¬ 
thusiasm of the people could not be restrained by legis¬ 
lative acts, and frequent acts of sedition were a warning 
that the people intended to be a factor in “ the land of 
the free. ” Experience is the only educating influence 
that civilizes humanity, and it was plainly revealed that 
the people had experienced a throb of democracy that 
the “servants” of the people very reluctantly acknowl¬ 
edged. It would be very difficult for anyone to define 
the correct relation the people bore to the government 
of the United States. It would seem more of an acci¬ 
dent, that any improved condition existed, rather than a 
premeditated effort on the part of the people or their 
representatives. The word accident may not convey 
the exact meaning, as words are very treacherous, being 
arranged in their relation to fact more to justify the 
oppressor rather than to enlighten the oppressed. 
People who have been taught a fundamental rule by 
ecclesiastical effort will doubtless reason from such rule. 
It bears the same relation however to civilization that 
the general principle of art does. 


194 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


No government could be maintained upon the rule of 
ecclesiastical teaching other than monarchial, if the rule 
was strictly observed, hence it would seem to convey a 
clearer meaning to say civilization and progress are due 
to experience rather than to the premeditated effort 
of man. 

Theories may be extracted from theories for vague 
purposes, but it must be accepted, if not admitted, that 
Nature does not rest upon a foundation of art. It is a 
thorough study of the past that suggests the possibilities 
of the future, and if men could convey their prejudices 
to posterity in the form of teaching, as tenaciously fixed 
in the mind of youth as in that of the teacher, progress 
or even an apology for a popular form of government 
would be impossible. 

Two distinct systems of philosophy could be consid¬ 
ered in extreme opposition to each other, one seeks new 
discoveries, regardless of artificial laws, while the other 
seeks to find some reason for laws, previously formulated 
to satisfy a human desire for a superior station in society. 

Semi-aristocracy, or a semi-cultured condition depends 
chiefly upon social extremes, it occupies neutral ground, 
and forms the large mass of humanity, it is non-pro¬ 
gressive in proportion to whatever prejudice is severely 
held to; as a factor in social reforms it constitutes a mere 
filling. Great men whose deeds grow greater in mem¬ 
ory of them, are so rare that centuries intervene between 
them. 

Between ecclesiastic teaching and the political system 
introduced by John Adams the early farmers were happy 
in the sincere belief that they were free. It was not 
however the result of their representatives, but rather 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


195 


to the experience derived from the spirit of liberty, that 
not even their representatives dared to interfere with. 
It was a surprise to both the representatives and the 
represented, it was no less a fact however, by reason of 
the representatives seeking to appropriate to themselves 
what was strictly due to divine law instilled into the 
individual mind in the form of natural intelligence. 
Moses taught the law in its natural perfection, but the 
people cannot understand their relation to society in the 
absence of experience, hence to learn what constitutes 
evil is the absolute necessity of embracing it. The 
effort to teach a child how hot fire was, failed in the 
time of Moses, and has never been a success since. 
The people have been taught fear and timidity by ex¬ 
perienced teachers for the pursose of subjugation, but 
after the courage of the early settlers became sharpened 
by experience they would not be represented entirely for 
the benefit of the representative. 

There are two very distinct features that all govern¬ 
ments embrace, one is police duty and the other the 
regulation of commerce. The people of the States which 
were formed into a Federal government, were mostly 
farmers, with local interests. If taxes were not directly 
imposed upon them by the Federal government, they 
were very little interested in commercial regulations. 
The very act of voting gave to the people the impression 
that they were the ruling power, but it merely demon¬ 
strated a physical power, for the mental power of the 
artificial order was carefully guarded by both State and 
Federal Constitutions. Hence it was more the fear of 
sedition among the people that influenced the legisla¬ 
tors than any virtue in Constitutions which in reality 


196 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


gave to the representatives the entire authority to rule, 
fully as strong as monarchical systems of governments. 
The absence of any reference to the Declaration of 
Independence, or that the people constituted the ruling 
power, in the Constitution, is quite evident that it was a 
deliberate purpose to deceive the people. It shows also 
that natural intelligence was as much feared by the real 
law makers of America as it was in Europe when the 
Holy Alliance was adopted as a servile measure. 

It was natural intelligence or the spirit of liberty that 
gave to the people of America a more humane govern¬ 
ment, rather than the men who actually made the laws. 
It became more evident as the country grew, when pol¬ 
iticians resorted to every known method of bribery and 
intimidation to obtain office, yet the conflict between Art 
and Nature was always a victory for the latter, however 
indirectly it would appear; besides all previous history 
reveals the same feature. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


97 


CHAPTER XIX. 

T HE French revolution following so closely upon the 
triumph of the American revolution gave evidence 
that aristocracy in Europe was hard pushed. It 
was no doubt stimulated by the successful issue in 
America, but the surroundings of France were very 
different than what America had to contend with. It 
was a gain for civilization, however, inasmuch as aristoc¬ 
racy was compelled to grant concessions in fear of being 
destroyed altogether. It proved again that experience 
only was the method by which Nature educated the 
people, besides history reveals that progress always en¬ 
counters opposition. The more cunning people are in 
utilizing art, the more oppressive they become. The 
danger of mobocracy is the one feature of society that 
deprives aristocracy of a peaceful enjoyment of their 
superior ability. However destructive revolution is to 
the peace of aristocracy, it is still so attractive that the 
very goal of ambition seems to be to embrace the system. 

The teaching of morality does not have the restrain¬ 
ing influence upon aristocracy as much as the fear of 
revolution. It even tries to control a government as the 
means of protecting society while it denies the natural 
law that is the real governing power of humanity. Aris¬ 
tocracy uses no reason except to justify existing con- 


I98 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

ditions. Progress is the one enemy that compels it to 
embrace greater limits, which gradually reduces the 
severe automatic pretensions. The natural method of 
teaching knowledge is by experience only, and artificial 
methods become very active after experience occurs. 
Man has always failed in striving to supercede natural 
law, and the great multitude of theoretic efforts betray 
the motive to even simple minded people who cannot be 
deprived of their privilege to read history. 

Monarchical governments were especially arranged to 
keep the masses ignorant of their physical power, but it 
is always a defiance to Nature, and although it may be 
taught to the end of time that natural man is vulgar and 
must be regenerated, it cannot disguise the fact that 
revolution has been the only method by which humanity 
has received practical enlightenment. Sedition laws and 
the horror of mob rule have had no effect upon natural 
law. Neither has it had a particle of effect upon the 
power of the sword to teach a reverence for people of 
superior culture. It is a simple problem being con¬ 
stantly worked out by Nature that no man has ever de¬ 
veloped ability enough to overcome. 

Aristocracy as a ruling class is very inconsistent with 
a Republican form of government, and positively de¬ 
stroyed in claiming any authority over the large majority 
who are considered the mere physical or natural force of 
a nation. Even after a man has been trained to treat a 
natural human being with disdain by reason of his ignor¬ 
ance of artificial culture, he has yet to render an account 
of himself to the very force that he disdains. If a man 
tries to find a reason for adhering to a condition that he 
is so wedded to as to control his reason, he has practi- 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


199 


cally reached the limit of progress so far as he is con¬ 
cerned himself. 

The relation of the minority to majority of the people 
forming a government cannot be disposed of logically 
without disturbing the very foundation of aristocracy. 
If it is recognized that a majority forms the ruling power 
of a nation, it should be apparent that the minority, fail¬ 
ing to agree to such rule, have only two resources, one of 
which is to deceive the majority and the other is to resist, 
as a last resort, with the sword. While it is an un¬ 
doubted privilege for every individual to obtain all the 
knowledge he can, either the natural or artificial, he will 
fail to protect aristocracy or a minority rule, for he is 
contending against Nature itself. Nature is very ac¬ 
commodating to art, but when the question of authority 
arises, she never fails to assert her rights, regardless of 
all the artificial ability that man displays. The persis¬ 
tent effort of men who are reputed to be learned to 
build a foundation of art that will support Nature always 
fails, besides it is in defiance of the Supreme Law as 
taught in the Bible. 

Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte reflected the 
social and political conditions of two revolutions, both of 
which being a revolt against the tyranny of aristocracy. 
These two men illustrated the superiority of character 
over mere artificial ability. Napoleon had the ability 
and skill, and also the means to a greater extent than 
Washington ; he failed however because he became intox¬ 
icated with the artificial of society rather than defend¬ 
ing to the last the rights of humanity. Again, nothing 
but experience will convince a man after he becomes in¬ 
fatuated with the idea that he is destined to be a great 


200 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


man. It is not strange that men will become conceited 
when the life of Napoleon is carefully studied, for if he 
could not conquer himself with all his ability to conquer 
others, it certainly shows a reason why men of lesser 
light become artificially weak. At almost the same 
period Washington was declining a crown that was be¬ 
ing thrust upon him, Napoleon was seeking one with the 
vanity of a weakling. It betrays the human disposition 
in man to try to hide himself in superficial surroundings. 
It is a vain attempt to make an artificial man, and the 
very dust of the past is dug up in the hope that artificial 
knowledge can prove itself to be superior to the natural. 

Napoleon won the support of the people of France by 
his prompt decision and the courage of his convictions, 
added to his military ability; he was the wonder of the 
world. What would have happened to Europe if he had 
possessed the democratic character of Washington can 
only be imagined. The moment he betrayed the com¬ 
mon people his star was on the wane.. The effort to de¬ 
ceive the people by gorgeous display would be exposed 
if people could resist the temptation like Washington, 
rather than fall a victim to the snare of ambition in like 
manner to Napoleon. 

To be doubtful suggests a possibility of progress, 
while a positive conviction is a finality that clings to a 
man like disease. Charity, therefore, for people of posi¬ 
tive convictions should be considered before a severe 
condemnation is hurled at them. The only positive 
knowledge that no one can escape, is experience, hence 
a person can reason more correctly when he understands 
there is no literal method of teaching experience. 

What is taught is a reflective system as a picture to 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


201 


the object—artificial knowledge. When a man is thor¬ 
oughly convinced that he is a subject himself, and 
believes he is controlled by literal methods, he is diseased 
to an extent that is practically chronic, he will scorn 
another for the slightest difference of opinion. He be¬ 
comes so devoted to his literal authorities that the mere 
suggestion of a crude idea aggravates his disease to an 
alarming extent. 

Napoleon Bonaparte was a great student of men, 
his power of adaptation and quick conception was a 
marvel which reflected human possibilities of the highest 
type. His career exhibits an example of art striving to 
overcome Nature. A careful study of his life should 
convince a student of progress what the whole fabric of 
aristocracy springs from. Napoleon tried to demon¬ 
strate that God endowed men with great ability for the 
purpose of subjugating others. To what extent his 
literal training influenced him is the individual privilege 
to conjecture. That he was an ardent student of history 
as well as a great commander of men, no one could 
scarcely doubt. 

Napoleon failed to establish his individual claim to a 
special privilege to command the obedience of his fellow 
men. He appears scarcely less than the Almighty 
who will assume to be a superior by striving to uphold 
the minority of humanity in its effort to command an 
obedience from the majority. If ignorance of the 
means of defence consigns a man to a condition of sub¬ 
jugation and stigma of immorality, what can be said of 
a man who possesses advantages to such a great degree 
as Napoleon ? It surely proves that superficial attain¬ 
ments do not justify a man in claiming divine authority 


202 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


to oppress whoever is ignorant of defence. From a 
moral standpoint the question of authority as reflected 
by the principle of aristocracy is just as unreasonable 
as what pertains to civil affairs. The privilege to com¬ 
pel one man to submit to another was fully embraced in 
the life of Napoleon, his failure in comparison to the 
success of Washington was a defeat for aristocracy that 
no volume of literary effort will overcome. The dispo¬ 
sition of man, however, to monopolize whatever he gets 
hold of is scarcely retarded by such a remarkable failure 
as that of Napoleon. 

The science of government was more brilliantly dis¬ 
played in France, at the advent of Napoleon, than at any 
other period in history. Literary critics appeared in 
multitudes, both clerical and secular, claiming that the 
masses were a dangerous element demanding a strong 
government. Surely it would take a good many revo¬ 
lutions such as the common people could incite to equal 
the destruction that Napoleon wrought. Besides the 
democratic success in America was a lasting rebuke to- 
the theory that people must first be trained to a condit¬ 
ion of self government. The fact that humanity is in¬ 
troduced to the earth in ignorance would seem to exclude 
the possibility of ever becoming capable of self govern¬ 
ment. Napoleon showed plainly that one man could be 
so severely trained that he became more dangerous than 
even mob rule. 

It seems to escape the attention of historians that 
Nature rules the earth regardless of all the efforts that 
man displays. Because the privilege of art was bestowed 
upon the human race it does not follow that the most 
talented are privileged to rule, or to so train the masses 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


205 


that every one of lesser ability is a subject to whoever is 
more enlightened. The fact is that aristocracy will 
make no concessions except from the fear of a mob or a 
defeat in battle. If ignorance is a servile condition with 
no organized method of defence it is not strange that a 
severe degree of oppression will finally result in resis¬ 
tance. A government that is partial in its protective 
power is the principal cause of mobs. It is idle to be¬ 
lieve that a man can be trained to a condition of obedi¬ 
ence to a class of society that his government protects 
with greater care than he receives himself. The most 
extreme measures can be taken to prevent mobs, but 
when self respect is taught to people, and the govern¬ 
ment discriminates and denies the respect that is taught, 
the outcome will be mobs. 

People who can read cannot be deceived continually 
in the relation they bear to a government. They will 
ponder over the situation until they discover they are 
victims of political aristocracy, even under a republican 
form of government. Nature defends the defenceless 
and encourages a resistance to oppression, if it breaks 
out in disoganized mobs it is the fault of tyrants who defy 
all law rather than be deprived of their selfish purpose. 

The teaching of moral ethics, pure and simple, gives 
to the Scriptures their remarkable vitality, but when sub¬ 
jugation is taught in the disguise of morality, wily man 
gets in his work, it is one of the strongest evidences of 
free will or individual liberty. It is not in the power of 
man to deprive another of his inherent liberty. The 
tyrant may slay, train, or shackle, but the liberty derived 
from the Almighty is indestructible—it is moral ethics 
that has never been improved upon since Christ was 


204 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


crucified. Washington was an example of moral ethics, 
when he refused to be king of America. While John 
Adams, (the father of political aristocracy) like Napo¬ 
leon, was put to shame. It is quite evident that a man 
knows what is right in proportion to his skill in hiding a 
motive for his act. An advocate of social reform who 
is more interested in gratifying his personal ambition will 
never advance the cause of humanity. 

The hope for the future is in the ability of the multi¬ 
tude to read history, it exposes the insincerity of both 
governing officials and self-proclaimed moral teachers in 
striving to “elevate the masses.” It is this subterfuge 
that obstructs the progress of democracy. The stub¬ 
born persistency of men who give plenty of evidence of 
knowing better, is the cause of mobs and revolts, which 
history proves to be the only method, prior to the privi¬ 
lege to read, of obtaining any relief from servile obedi¬ 
ence. People, like hornets, will defend their nests with 
whatever means they have at hand, for it is a natural law 
that has a priorty to any artificial law that man has ever 
invented. Law and order to be effective must be impar¬ 
tial. Human beings are not unlike hornets, they will 
sting indiscriminately before they will be taught or 
coerced into servile obedience ; besides they are an exam¬ 
ple of social harmony that is not aggressive towards 
their surroundings. 

Washington’s personality was typical of Christianity, 
and while multitudes of men, superior to him in letters 
and literary ability have won great renown, they will all 
be forgotten in comparison, for the simple reason that he 
refused to glorify himself and betray the people who 
fought eight years to establish a Democracy. That the 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


205 


people of America were deceived by Adams’ aristocracy 
was no fault of Washington. If the time was not 
favorable to establishing a full fledged Democracy it 
was no credit to the statesmen and politicians, who to 
protect their personal interests conspired to establish a 
monarchy. If humanity depended upon theories the 
earth would have been barren before America was dis¬ 
covered. Besides it is not so important to defend indi¬ 
vidual effort in the interest of humanity as to acknowl¬ 
edge the fact that history sooner or later will reveal to 
the masses how the common people have been fleeced. 

The people are not “lifted up” by superior intellec¬ 
tual ability, but instead, every effort that intellectual 
ability can command is exerted to keep the masses in 
menial servitude. 

History is authority that needs no interpreter, it re¬ 
veals the fact that all the “ lifting up ” the people ever 
got was by their own push. The people themselves 
have always signified what their verdict was in matters 
of social reform. When the people can read they will 
not be cheerful subjects, and ancient history dealt with a 
period very different from present conditions. More due 
to the push, however, than any assistance from the 
“ task masters.” 


206 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


CHAPTER XX 

T HE unprecedented growth of the United States was 
proclaimed to be due to its liberal form of govern¬ 
ment, but the fact is quite obvious from the peru¬ 
sal of history that the fundamental features of aristoc¬ 
racy were quite conspicuous in the minds of the represen¬ 
tative statesmen, although they lost no opportunity in 
ridiculing monarchical government in a manner scarcely 
less than boastful. It would appear that the peaceful 
progress of society was due to the energy and thought¬ 
fulness of politicians who played the part of aristocracy 
even if they had severed connection with the original 
branch. 

The display of patriotism was encouraged to such an 
extent that it thoroughly disguised the fact that the 
proud distinction of being a “ citizen’ ’ of the most 
glorious country in the world was a mere phantom of the 
brain unpierced by the wily duplicity of men who find 
themselves in possession of authority over less fortunate 
fellowmen. Credulity will promote confidence until 
some violent betrayal will dash hope to fragments, when 
the full force of experience would be realized to sharpen 
the wit of the apparently witless. But for this feature 
of natural law, the man of artificial ability would consign 
every credulous victim to a servile condition that would 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


207 


annihilate hope. It is remarkable to note that the very 
means employed to deceive a simple minded man will 
•enlighten him. It is a very talented man that can so 
disguise his acts that he leaves no track behind him. 
Hence the patronizing effort of men to obtain the votes 
of those they socially disdain teaches wisdom to the 
voter, and humility to the politician. 

That art is a two edged sword would seem to explain 
many inconsistencies that confound the mind of man. 
The relation of moral ethics to the welfare of society 
would appear to be powerless by virtue of the two edged 
sword of art, of successfully depriving the individual of 
his natural liberty. Versatile theories have vainly 
sought to maintain a supervision over human beings un¬ 
skilled in artificial intelligence. The fact that natural 
intelligence is prior to the artificial and also a necessity 
to the latter, shoiild reveal the duty of man toward 
man as positively as the Golden Text or the Declara¬ 
tion of Independence. Also the natural law and relative 
character of artificial law as reflected in the government 
of society leaves no possible foundation for a “ privi¬ 
leged” class of society to rest upon morally, for it depends 
more upon moral conduct than theoretic effort, in the 
vain attempt to employ art to disguise the wickedness 
of man to promote greed and popular notoriety. The 
vain and everfailing effort of art to promote wickedness 
encounters the same force, equally endowed to expose it. 

Whether the early statesmen of the United States 
were sincere in their political acts, and believed they 
were acting for the welfare of the whole country, is im¬ 
material to the fact that the history of the period cannot 
be hidden from the present or future reader. At a 


208 the degeneracy of aristocracy. 

period of the world’s history when laws were enacted 
that required a particular reverence for the clergy and 
professional men, it would seem at the time a sacrilege 
to utter a word of reflection against the integrity of such 
men. There was quite a parental assumption of author¬ 
ity over the uncultivated who appeared to be ungodly 
in the light of the prevailing theology of the day. 
Learned men, however, who could be such astute pol¬ 
iticians in matters of personal interests cast a suspicion, 
at least, upon their moral integrity. It is certainly the 
privilege to read history and marvel at the ignorance of 
our “ patriotic fathers, ” while we become astonished at 
the knowledge they displayed in accumulating wealth 
and protecting their personal interests. 

It would seem that the early condition of the working 
people of the United States was not all that was sung 
about them. They did not enjoy the theory of a pop¬ 
ular government, as much as one would be led to sup¬ 
pose they might if it had been a fact. It became quite 
a habit of the more prominent people to use the pronoun 
“ we ’’ in alluding to the privileges the common people 
were permitted to enjoy. The fear of the populace was 
an inheritance from European society, and only for that 
fear it is doubtful if the common people of the new born 
nation would have been recognized at all as a factor of 
the government. The average student of the period 
would get no farther in the study of theology after he 
became satisfied that it was no crime to deceive a person 
too ignorant to defend himself. 

That there was a great deal of secret murmuring may 
be more traditional than historic, but it would appear 
quite probable from biography and miscellaneous writ- 


THE DEGENERACY" OF ARISTOCRACY'. 


209 


ings. There are enough records of the past to warrant 
the conclusion that the same feature of obscurity that 
inaugurated the revolt against England was forcing 
political concessions rather than being favored by the 
mediating power that had established itself between the 
people and the government—American aristocracy. 
Free speech and free religion became so popular in the 
United States that political ingenuity became powerless 
to prevent it. It was really the principal civilizing 
feature that determined the growth and prosperity of 
America. It could be disputed in like manner to other 
truths, but after events occur it is the individual privilege 
to determine causes. 

That a great many circumstances occurred to promote 
the welfare of America was self-evident, but the fact re¬ 
mained that the artificial culture of Europe was less 
productive of progressive events than the lesser ability 
the new nation possessed. That natural intelligence 
was more civilizing than the artificial, would appear to be 
a fact when a just comparison is considered between the 
“old world” and the new. The development of art 
even was more noticeable in proportion to a recognition 
of natural law. Generations had to pass away before 
the adhesive bigotry that the human mind will conceive, 
from which nothing but death will relieve society and 
permit a degree of reformation. Men, even of appar¬ 
ently pure motives are inclined to be conservative and 
extremely cautious in accepting any constructive theories. 
Man is only at fault when he knowingly obstructs 
another man from exercising his progressive faculties. 
It amounts to a disease when one man feels that he is 
specifically ordained to direct the understanding of 


2 10 


THE DEGENERACY GF ARISTOCRACY. 


another. Slavery and every degree of oppression spring 
from a misconception of art, is what history reveals, and 
also the disposition to cling to the dogmatic theology 
that art was bestowed upon man to correct the immor¬ 
ality of Nature. 

That even learned men to this day are quibbling with 
words to modify the dogmas of the past, in view of 
events that disprove them, proves there is a selfish 
motive behind the screen. Man can believe and trust in 
God without subscribing to a dogma that was formulated 
to protect monarchy and justify aristocracy. If the 
masses could have been prevented from learning to read, 
the dogmas chattel slavery and aristocracy would con¬ 
tinue indefinitely. That the people of the United 
States will continue to be subjects when every school 
boy can read that he is an integral unit and just as much 
a unit of the government as. any other unit is very im¬ 
probable. It is as dogmatic as the political system of 
the United States to claim that a boy must be specific¬ 
ally trained by the compulsory power of a government 
that he is at birth an accredited unit of. 

The freedom of religion in the United States as a 
Constitutional guarantee did more for the cause of re¬ 
ligion than any dogma or all the “ articles of faith ” that 
were ever written. It is also the most prominent reason 
for the rapid growth of the nation. It was hastily con¬ 
ceived, but toleration was very popular with the framers 
of the Constitution except as it applied to slavery, when 
commercial greed could not be sacrificed. It would ap¬ 
pear that it was a compromise between the freedom of re¬ 
ligion and the freedom of the slaves. From the greed 
and self-interests shown in other matters it would seem 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


21 I 


that commercial interests would not suffer so much by 
freeing religion as freeing the slaves. 

Men are so occupied in promoting commercial prog¬ 
ress that the relation of religion to a government was 
only seen from its effect upon European nations The 
wars, persecutions and sectarian disputes that history 
was full of appeal to the judgment of practical men. 
They decided wisely that the freedom of religious meth¬ 
ods and government protection even against violent in¬ 
terference with different societies, was the first peace 
note that the world had ever witnessed. The freedom 
of speech and freedom of the press was a natural se¬ 
quence to the freedom of religion. It was a mere ratifi¬ 
cation of what Christ proclaimed two thousand years 
previous, but no nation before had ever attempted to de¬ 
fend fundamental Christianity entirely unshackled from 
any dogma whatever. 

It was a very simple device and severely criticised by 
European contemporaries. A man of superstitious dis¬ 
position could doubtless have imagined that Providence 
was the guiding influence that prompted the early states¬ 
men of America in such a marvellous act of wisdom. It 
is extremely improbable that any direct interposition of 
God guided the acts of our governing officials, when they 
successfully fastened human slavery upon a nation after 
signing a document that will live in history after the 
Constitution is forgotten. 

The opinion of one man is like a drop of water in the 
ocean but what is vastly more important is the privilege 
to utter it. Now such a privilege always existed as be¬ 
tween God and man, but the presumption of human au¬ 
thority that developed chattel slavery so intimidated 


212 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


primitive man that his fear predominated over his courage 
to utter what he knew to be his birthright. To enter into 
all the phases that this subject leads to one would find 
himself quibbling with literary husks while the kernel 
would be neglected. 

That the acts of our early Congress was in advance of 
any individual conception of the period is quite obvious 
at the present time. The whole of Europe would have 
combined and sent over their fleets and every soldier 
they could muster but what they would have subdued 
America, if they could have foreseen the importance of 
the act of Congress that acknowledged religion was free. 
It completely undermined the theoretic foundation of 
aristocracy, but the infant America clothing itself in 
governmental possibilities was too preposterous to even 
attract serious attention. All nations were blinded by 
commercial interest to such an extent that moral recti¬ 
tude was only considered as a factor to keep the spirit 
of democracy from raising its head above water. Histo¬ 
rians give evidence of understanding what is termed the 
danger of permitting the common people to know too 
much. That all the prominent histories are biased in 
the interest of aristocracy is evident from the effort 
made to disguise it. 

The privilege of the common people to read was never 
encouraged by either aristocracy or the learned men of 
prominence. If the wise men of Europe had been as 
astute at interpreting dreams as Joseph was, the growth 
of the United States would have been retarded. The 
most surprising feature of all great reforms, is the unex¬ 
pected manner, and the obscure sources from which they 
spring. Prophetic men who seek notoriety from a dis- 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


213 


play of wisdom are pushed hard to explain the phenom¬ 
enon. Art is a powerful agent to clothe events in 
superficial garments after they occur, for Nature is com¬ 
paratively slow in revealing her power to effect reforms 
that the art of man is powerless to prevent. Another 
great feature in the recognition by an established gov¬ 
ernment, of the freedom of religion, was a just rebuke to 
the previous dogma that a mediator was an absolute 
necessity between God and man before the kingdom of 
heaven could be reached. The reading man becomes 
his own judge whether he is not just as capable of read¬ 
ing the Bible and interpreting it as any other. It does 
not interfere in any sense with moral teaching. What 
it does disturb is previous privileges to make a commer¬ 
cial business of religion, supported by a government 
that poor people were compelled to pay for; also plenty 
of history exists showing that whatever doctrine a nation 
prescribed the subject was compelled to accept without 
question. That it was more from the fear of revolt than 
any sympathy for the future welfare of the subject can 
scarcely escape the attention of the reader of history. 

Now under the new order of things in governments 
that are not absolute monarchies, a doctrine or what is 
sometimes erroneously called a “new religion” depends 
wholly upon followers, as much so, as patent medicine 
•depends upon purchasers. In nations that recognize 
free religion, peaceful prosperity is so. much enhanced 
that it needs no comment. No one can prove to the in¬ 
dividual reader of current literature that free religion is 
a detriment to morality or Christian growth, unless aris¬ 
tocracy is exclusively considered. 

That the United States, by recognizing the freedom 


214 THE degeneracy of aristocracy. 

of religion has interested the whole world in Christianity 
will scarcely admit of a doubt. The effort of literary 
scribes to misrepresent facts betrays their prejudice, or 
what is more probable, the commercial interest in their 
writings, in favor of aristocracy and ridicule toward de¬ 
mocracy. Because a person does not display the super¬ 
ficial husk of art, it is presumed to be evidence that he 
cannot comprehend the motive that governs the average 
commercial scribe of modern times. No one is more 
deceived by such quibbling than the writer himself. He 
may earn his living by his ingenious display of wit but 
if he would take the trouble to observe the commonest 
laborer reading the daily paper and commenting upon 
what he reads, the fact could scarcely be disguised that 
present conditions could not be met by the chief efforts 
that succeeded in the past. 

The indifference to the opinion of the multitude in 
the display of literary husk, is applauded by a class of 
people who have no respect for the source of their 
“ daily bread, ” and less care. Personal conceit can be 
cultivated to a degree of brilliancy that wins a diploma 
of merit, but there is no evidence in history that natural 
conditions were ever affected by it. There are no two* 
words more played with than the words aristocracy and 
democracy ; in defining the former the latter is also de¬ 
fined, for whatever aristocracy is democracy is not. 
Hence he who would define the one should have a care 
that he did not commit himself in attempting to define 
the other, or he would present a personal example that 
would expose his motive. It is as impossible for art to- 
overcome Nature as to attempt to fit a man to the gar¬ 
ment rather than fit the garment to the man. The con- 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


215 


tinual failures of aristocracy in the past would seem to 
be convincing that it was not wholly due to what is 
vaguely termed “ ignorance. ” 

It would be as impossible for an aristocrat to be a 
typical Christian as to -serve “ two masters, ” while a 
democrat, in the sense of a fundamental principle, is a 
Christian even if he is clothed in rags and begging for 
bread. The freedom of religion includes the privilege of 
reading the Bible, and it requires no interpreter to define 
the relation of aristocracy to democracy, of which Wash¬ 
ington was the father, in its relation to the science of 
government. It was as old as Moses, however as a 
human principle. 


CHAPTER XXI. 

T HE reason why democracy does not appear in history 
as a striking figure of reform is very misleading to 
all such as are wedded to husk and too tired to 
seek the kernel. People are trained to a conservative 
condition and when their carnal appetite is satisfied 
questions of reform and social problems are so vague to 
their understanding that they become settled in a com¬ 
mon belief of fatalism. It can scarcely be claimed that 
a person is to blame for being trained to a condition of 
servitude any more than blame could have been charged 
to the chattel slave. Both conditions were for the same 


2l6 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


purpose, simply to gain a livelihood by wit rather than 
fulfil the scriptures to the letter. Such conclusion is 
not a mere assertion, for anyone can read it in standard 
histories. 

Learned men will dispute with each other and differ 
widely in what constitutes civilization. The wickedness 
of the world appears to be such a shock to their feelings 
that they become restless in their sleep. It never seems 
to occur to people who give evidence of feeling a little 
elevated, that God gives no evidence of seeking human 
advice in regard to methods of ruling the world. That 
humanity continues to be born in ignorance of its latent 
possibilities is no fault of the individual debutant. His 
liberty can be obstructed and restrained but no parent 
can rob the child of its free will, hence no better defini¬ 
tion could be given to the principle of democracy than 
that of natural man. Whoever believes, however, that 
mystery is destined to be penetrated by art until human 
possibilities are as clearly revealed as the past, would 
necessarily believe in suicide—it would destroy hope and 
every possibility of civilization. It is not presumed that 
men are ignorant of this principle, but can the fact be 
disguised that history reveals that however learned a 
man might be, he either lacked moral integrity or the 
courage of his convictions. The failure of kings to 
govern society in a civilized manner, is a verification of 
the prediction of Moses, practically, if the people de¬ 
manded experience, kings would the more probably sat¬ 
isfy their desires than any other method of government. 

Hence the experience, that cannot be blotted from the 
pages of history, is rapidly becoming the individual priv¬ 
ilege of entire humanity when it will be seen that kings 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


2 17 


liave been more remarkable for failures in governing 
society than any recorded success. Besides ancient his¬ 
torians with all their flourish of visions and mythical 
knowledge of the future, would never have written what 
they did if they had even dreamed of entire humanity 
ever becoming able to read it individually. 

Civilization is constantly unfolding new conditions 
that must be met. The effort to maintain the accom¬ 
paniment without the monarch, would be like aristocracy 
trying to exist in the absence of democracy. A repub¬ 
lic trying to imitate the social functions of a monarchy 
is equally as absurd. That the people are indifferent 
witnesses of the vain effort to maintain aristocracy, is 
the same mistake that ancient historians made. The 
mistake of the past should at least, be a warning to the 
wisdom of the present. The debutant upon the earth is 
always a democrat regardless of his proclivities toward 
aristocracy; the one hope for the continued growth of 
civilization is confined to experience as reflected in the 
determination of the Hebrews. Even Adam could not 
be convinced that the theory of righteousness was as 
satisfactory as a little taste of evil, hence when evil is 
driven off the earth there is no question but what hu¬ 
manity will follow. 

Commerce, trade and traffic were the features of the 
“new world.” It was a general idea if studious efforts 
were made to learn or obtain book knowledge that 
wealth, honor and fame could be obtained by what was 
glaringly pictured and called knowledge. The farmer 
boys were encouraged to study and read every book that 
told of marvelous results of poor boys rising to the con¬ 
dition of great merchants or heralded upon the wings 


2 l8 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


of fame as a man of remarkable ability and unselfish in 
his devotion to the welfare of humanity. That some 
men become all that books proclaim them is no doubt 
a fact. It is also a fact that history kept no record of 
the heart rendering disappointments that followed the 
chase for wealth and fame. When men of great literary 
ability and profound in the knowledge of law and moral 
ethics not only encouraged human slavery, but were en¬ 
gaged in the traffic, would it seem unreasonable that 
such men would deceive the simple mind of the farmer 
and his wife by persuading them to mortgage the farm 
and give the boy and girl a chance in the world, when it 
would be a mere trifle for them to redeem the home¬ 
stead after they become rich. History records great 
numbers slain in battle, but nothing is said about the 
greater number slain by the duplicity of commercial 
educators in the effort to fasten a system of aristocracy 
upon America. 

What greater temptation can be held out to parents- 
than a prospect of living to see their children become 
great and famous. Temptations are more necessary,, 
however, to attract the growth of humanity than any 
assistance ever obtained from the tempter. A success¬ 
ful career is more frequently measured by dollars than 
character. The mere ability to read safeguards the in¬ 
dividual against the temptation of artificial knowledge 
that is simply offered as a commodity in like manner to- 
any merchandise that is displayed to attract a customer.. 
Knowledge that possesses no practical use to the 
possessor is a positive burden. The parents’ love for 
their children prompts the hope that their path in life 
will be less thorny and their goal will be one of pleasure 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


219 


and luxury. Education, like religion, is a very disputa¬ 
ble subject, but both have a significant relation to the 
degeneracy of aristocracy. Academic knowledge that 
promotes idleness and wanton gratification is more con¬ 
sistent under a monarchial form of government than a 
republic, even one that is only an apology for a democ¬ 
racy. America got its first start in the race of nations 
from the genius of natural intelligence that academic 
scholars have always sought to smother and even ridi¬ 
cule. Yet it was very simple events that established the 
foundation of America’s greatness. 

Genius was never the result of culture, besides no 
one can have too much knowledge. Education is so 
broad a term that mental faculties could become ex¬ 
hausted and yet a person be ignorant of its full force. 
It is a very convenient word to juggle with, and like all 
other great principles it is the individual privilege to de¬ 
termine what it stands for. The willingness and courage 
to act is of more importance than the mere training of 
how to act, and when the silent reader reads history he 
becomes rapidly educated in speculative ideas. He 
reasons from events of the past without any instruction 
from another; he feels that his inherent liberty is his. 
personal property, also the discovery that people of 
superficial acquirements having failed to promote social 
harmony in Europe it is suspicious that they should 
claim so much success for themselves in a country that 
prospered more in contempt of their ability than from 
any practical assistance. If it is due to the national rec¬ 
ognition of a common privilege to learn, and enjoy what¬ 
ever method of religion one chooses, it is certainly an in¬ 
teresting muse with no more art than the ability to read. 


2 20 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


The common people are naturally bright enough to 
continue a defence of rights that experience has revealed 
to them without the assistance of ability that seems 
more interested in the product of liberty than any sin¬ 
cere purpose in the welfare of common humanity. 

The individual relation to specific education is con¬ 
founded with duty and the source of authority. The 
unique form of government was an educator itself, be¬ 
sides the various rivalries between different religious soci¬ 
eties made it difficult to determine from what authority 
teachers were governed. Mere rudiments of education 
were the principal studies of the district schools, more 
from necessity than any special design. It enabled the 
youth of the rural district to learn to read and that de¬ 
gree of education was accepted by all without opposition. 
It is enough to expose the motive that prompts the 
supporter of aristocracy to endeavor to neutralize the 
effect of the masses learning to read by seeking to teach 
them what to read. If it was possible to monopolize the 
principle of education it would be as much a subject of 
the oppressor as a man that is persuaded to believe he is 
a citizen of a nation that is ruled by a political system 
as arbitrary as any privileged class that ever enjoyed the 
protection of a monarchy. 

Education is a principle of such magnitude that no 
one individual can embrace it entire. It is vaguely 
spoken of when one person speaks of another as being 
educated or uneducated; common custom even will not 
reasonably excuse such an absurd remark, besides it 
would be an admission that the speaker was certainly 
deficient in the attainment he was talking about. It 
would doubtless be condoned by the fraternity who 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


221 


again would expose the indifference to natural man be¬ 
cause he lacked the ability to penetrate the design. 
The diversity of conditions as a result of education em¬ 
braces the science of correct reasoning, also professedly 
it includes the law, medicine, science of government, lan¬ 
guage, economics, ethics both moral and evil, these are 
embraced in the metaphysical. 

Now mathematics, with all its numerous branches 
added, forms but a fraction of the possibilities of ed¬ 
ucation. It can be readily seen that no man is justified 
in using the word education for the purpose of suggest¬ 
ing a limit. These conditions collectively form the very 
base of aristocracy. 

If the food producing people could have been pre¬ 
vented from learning to read, and free speech with free 
religion could have been prevented by statute law it 
would have been in force to-day, for the reason that pro¬ 
fessional men use every means in their power to con¬ 
vince a man he is too ignorant to get a living without 
earning it. Is it strange that an “ignorant" man will 
occasionally take the risk of trying to get his living by 
helping himself to the property of another? Now skill 
is education, and sometimes more useful than the knowl¬ 
edge of medicine or the law. Is it less a crime for the 
lawyer to use his education and steal or betray his client, 
than for a man of skill to use his education for his per¬ 
sonal benefit. The adage, “let every man look out for 
himself, ” is just what the laborer is learning from his 
daily paper; he is being educated rapidly, and from the 
evidence in history that shows how favored the educated 
were, it will follow that the educated laborer will de¬ 
mand to be recognized as a full fledged co-partner in the 


222 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


political deals that only recognize “ insiders. ” The 
moral teacher who insists upon teaching aristocracy and 
morality both, is not a factor in the reforms of the day. 
When science reveals a method of existence without the 
necessity of food, aristocracy will be able to teach dem¬ 
ocracy to join their ranks. A mediator was always rec¬ 
ognized as a necessity between the people and their 
king, the principle was obviously well understood by the 
professedly educated men who took a prominent part in 
-organizing the republic. It is the purpose of the 
writer to show that the acknowledgment of the freedom 
of religion was destructive to the most potent weapon 
that aristocracy ever possessed. Also it naturally fol¬ 
lows that a “sovereign citizen ” will be able to reach the 
head of the government without being compelled to sub¬ 
mit to a mediator in imitation of monarchies. 

Democracy is reading, and however indifferent aris¬ 
tocracy may be to the significance of it, while politics 
and educational bureaus are in control of education, 
they may learn that art is a two edged sword and it will 
not be the first time that aristocracy has been surprised. 

The rural districts were the principal supporters of a 
peaceful administration of government. The people 
acted in the full belief that they were enjoying a popular 
form of government. It was popular with them because 
they could only understand what was religiously pro¬ 
claimed not only in “ town meeting ” but also in local 
papers that began to appear very soon after the revol¬ 
ution. Candidates for office would seek votes with such 
a patronizing affection for the interests of the people 
that men of very simple understanding would rise rapidly 
in their self esteem. Political parties were so named 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


223 


that the influence of aristocracy was disguised by names 
that would imply federal relation to the separate States. 
Any words that were tainted with aristocracy would be 
carefully avoided by either tradesmen or politicians. 
Taxes, tariff, and the economy of public expenditure, 
with school and meetinghouse affairs formed the general 
topic for discussion. Anything that was said against 
English customs was always interesting, and popular 
topics as an educator cannot be denied to groups of 
people under whatever circumstances they 4 are thrown 
together. The science of correct reasoning is learned 
from its original source. That morality is dependent 
upon the authority of books is just as absurd as it would 
have been in the time of Adam, when “ he did eat of the 
tree of knowledge.” 

Plagiary is such a remarkable scheme, that vast num¬ 
bers are engaged in the work for commercial reasons. 
Many are no doubt indifferent to the fact that they are 
engaged in a traffic with stolen goods. Ideas are not 
stolen however by natural man. The influence of soci¬ 
ety is a more remarkable source of moral education 
than all the literary product in existence. There is no 
circumstance more in evidence of the merit of natural law 
than the social relations of the rural districts. Nature 
has always been the model of art in both word and 
object pictures, hence all literature is plagiary. Scientific 
men are not ignorant of this, but they are too closely 
connected to aristocracy to reveal it in an unbiased sim¬ 
ple manner. Thus democracy is obliged to obtain the 
information in the original primitive manner. The dis¬ 
pute of this assertion is equivalent to disputing the Gos¬ 
pels and the general spirit of the Bible as a whole. 


224 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


Religion was always free and recognized by Moses, but 
the introduction of kings put an embargo upon the ex¬ 
ercise of religious freedom, which continued in force 
until the United States duplicated the recognition of 
Moses. It is not a matter of interest to any religious 
organization that is more interested in denominational 
growth than using their power to solve the social prob¬ 
lem that is a puzzle to all the wise men of the earth. 
Now this country has practically contracted to protect 
the individual as a unit of humanity, and while Christ 
was not mentioned in the Constitution by reason of its 
breaking the very law that was being enacted, as it would 
have discriminated against some religious society, 
his teachings were evidently in view, for it is precisely 
what Christ taught according to the Gospels. Hence 
the individual is not compelled by statute law to help 
himself to the pure spring water (religion) it is equally 
his privilege to pay others for it. The individual at least 
will observe that it is analogous to the scriptures, it is 
therefore neither a violation of statute law nor the law of 
God. It is at least on much firmer foundation than ar¬ 
istocracy ever rested upon, even when it is protected by 
the most modern cannon. 

That many individuals have discovered these facts, 
but refrain from publicly acknowledging it, is readily 
learned by listening to groups in conversation on the 
subject. That Bible disputes are less violent is evidence 
of the degeneracy of aristocracy, but it might be inter¬ 
esting to review the social relation of the rural townships 
to show the absence of disorder in communities com¬ 
posed of people who were not remarkable for literary 
culture. Of course the Minister, Doctor, Squire and 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


225 


School Master, were semi-cultured, not sufficiently how¬ 
ever to be classed with aristocracy. The community in 
mind was a complete democracy. It being the natural 
disposition of man to feel a little important in any official 
capacity or upon the occasion of public parade the ten¬ 
dency to aristocracy would attract the attention of a 
critic. The Doctor took care of the sick, and the School¬ 
master beat the three R’s into the mind of youth. In 
the discussion of very profound subjects such as, why 
does God work Sundays and forbid man to do so ? It 
would be declared that a pumpkin vine should rest as 
well as a man. Also they would ask, if it was right for 
a woman to make yeast on Saturday knowing it would 
work on Sunday. Frequent disputes would occur that 
would threaten to disturb the peace. If it was too 
serious for Schoolmaster or Squire to settle the Minister 
would with calm deliberation promise to look up the au¬ 
thorities upon the subject. Having established peace 
again in the little democracy the disputants would 
admit that it was foolish to get mad over little affairs. 
The Minister would fire hot shots at the wickedness in 
the cities and manufacturing villages, and however de¬ 
ficient he might be in literal culture, he was not lacking 
in impressing upon the people that peace and social 
order depended upon morality and good will toward 
those who differed in opinions. 

By following the various social conditions in the 
United States it shows that prosperity and a violent de¬ 
sire for it would develop aristocracy in such persons who 
could not have resisted the temptation of a crown, even 
with the example of Washington fresh in their memory. 


226 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


CHAPTER XXII 


HE emigration of the Irish to the Northern States 



of the Union was very significant as showing the 


oppressive disposition of England. They were 
attracted by the word liberty, and the glowing accounts 
of a few that preceded the rush. It is remarkable to 
notice, that by reason of severe discipline in the old 
•country they were humiliated to a condition of servitude 
scarcely less than the Southern slaves that were kid¬ 
napped in Africa and sold as mere merchandise to the 
highest bidder. Emigration was not attractive to the 
South, by people who were trained from childhood to be 
obedient and satisfied to get work even, and feel grate¬ 
ful to their employer for whatever work was offered. 
They were as thoroughly trained to service as the black 
man was chained. The naturalization laws were severely 
contested in the States and also the Federal Congress 
that was practically dominated by the Southern States. 
The jealousy aroused by the greater attractions in the 
North developed the political system very rapidly, and 
the fact that the system was aristocratic as a whole, 
regardless of the division of the system into parties, was 
as obvious at the North as the South, there was no more 
respect shown to common laborers at the North than to 
the slave system of the South. 

The demand for laborers was intensified by the great 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


227 


natural resources of the country. England was also 
jealous and her statesmen were always noted for diplo¬ 
macy. Diplomacy is a polite word for double-dealing, it 
was recognized by the Church as a necessary stroke of 
policy (from which the word politics is derived, it should 
be carefully borne in mind for it also relates to the word 
aristocracy.) There is nothing more diplomatic than to 
play with words when the object is to disguise the re¬ 
lation between aristocracy and democracy, or between 
the “ ruling class ” of humanity and those “born” to 
earn their living, by reason of “inherent wickedness, ” 
or by reason of such a disposition to wickedness that 
nothing but hard work would keep their natural pro¬ 
pensities down. 

That the wise men in both England and America are 
well acquainted with the social inequality between labor 
and capital is proved by their diplomacy in striving to 
keep the laborer ignorant of it. The boastful pride of 
the Yankee in parading American progress, was more 
aggravating to the pride of England than the surrender 
of Cornwallis. At the time it was not dreamed that 
America could build up a nation that reflected a future 
democracy. That “knowledge rules the world” is an 
English adage derived from Socrates. 

It is an adage that supports Colleges, Academies, 
and all branches of what is termed higher education. It 
has been the principal effort of this writing to make that 
adage plain as it strictly relates to aristocracy, diplo¬ 
macy and politics. In view of the marvellous growth of 
the United States, that an English statesman will 
scarcely recognize except as a diplomatic stroke of 
policy. Polish, policy and politics are significant words 


228 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


they bear a close relation to diplomacy in its protection 
of the system of aristocracy. Literature is word pic¬ 
tures and is meritorious by reason of polish. It has no 
effect upon the fundamental principle of morality which 
is always a model rather than a subject of art. Wit and 
sarcasm are a polish of literature, but contain no argu¬ 
ment in the protection of morality. Classical literature 
is pro-aristocratic in proportion to its anti-christian senti¬ 
ments. The very word class betrays its attachment to 
aristocracy and was thoroughly exploited by the Hebrews 
who have always claimed to this day to have been a 
“chosen people.” The popularity of Shakespere is 
derived more from its pro-aristocratic sentiment rather 
than from any Christian tone. It is important to study 
all the features of history to get a clear idea of England’s 
effort to dominate the policy of America. Diplomacy 
has always been the weapon of England, practically to 
ruin the power of other nations to pull her “ chestnuts ” 
out of the fire. Her success flatters aristocracy, for she 
occupies the first rank in its protection. A great deal 
could be written in giving details, but English literature 
is not wanting in its pro-aristocratic sentiment. 

The conditions that America has presented to the 
“world ” have compelled England to adopt policies that 
her staunch statesmen would not have submitted to two 
hundred years ago. If it is due to education America 
was the teacher. The manner in which she was taught 
civilizing reforms is embraced in history, written however 
by pro-aristocrat historians, who give evidence of flatter¬ 
ing aristocracy rather than a sincere purpose of en¬ 
lightening reading democracy, who are as dependent 
to-day upon its own push as in the darkest days of the 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


229 


“ middle ages/’ Hence this writing is more an example 
of what the individual reader can discover in history 
rather than to dispute it specifically. 

England betrayed a glaring inconsistency, however 
humane, in her effort to suppress the African slave trade 
years before the civil war. It was more to show con¬ 
tempt for the boastful democracy in America than anv 
sympathy for the oppressed. That she was double¬ 
dealing is proved by the fact that she was oppressing 
her own subjects, the Irish, scarcely less than America 
was oppressing the blacks. The Irish were driven to 
emigrate by a denial of the principle that every unit of 
humanity is a part thereof in the sight of God, while she 
used her navy to prevent the Africans from being com¬ 
pelled to migrate. The degree of compulsion employed 
•did not affect the moral responsibility of either con¬ 
ditions. If it was “trade ” with the Americans, it was 
the same with England except it was more diplomatic to 
call it policy. The suffering on shipboard of these con¬ 
temporaneous migrations were practically the same. 
Besides they were about equally privileged to enjoy 
whatever civilizing influences that commercial greed was 
forced by necessity to submit to. That the fundamental 
principle of the Declaration of Independence was prac¬ 
tically denied in both cases cannot be reasonably dis¬ 
puted, for in both cases and by both nations inherent 
liberty was scorned. The danger from democracy was 
more feared than any settlement involved in moral 
responsibilities. 

England made her policy still more prominent by the 
liberating of the slaves in all her provinces. She had 
become so impressed by her diplomatic shrewdness, that 


230 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


no doubt many a joke was cracked at the English fire¬ 
side at the. expense of Yankee boastfulness. They cer¬ 
tainly had ample occasion when the fugitive slaves were 
fleeing to Canada at the first opportunity. It is also re¬ 
corded that every successful trip was the occasion of the 
ex-slave dropping upon his knees to express his thanks to- 
God that he was free, and to God only were the thanks 
due, for the “underground” system was conducted by 
a trust in God rather than any human trust. 

That England was resolved to compete with America 
as a liberator of mankind was quite obvious. To a stu¬ 
dent of correct reasoning however a “subject” of her 
realm was only recognized to be in possession of such 
liberty as the king decreed. The relative difference in 
the “new world” being that slaves were held by statute 
law and wickedly treated. Yet the Congress of the 
United States had embraced in the Constitution article 
fifth the privilege to amend it. This fact made it possi¬ 
ble for the sovereign rights of the individual to assert 
itself. Besides the sovereignty of the Federal Govern¬ 
ment having been conceded by the States in legal form 
it was mere assumption of a State to claim it should be 
restored. Also the recognition of free religion and free 
speech was practically a recognition of inherent liberty 
that every human being knows he is endowed with by 
the Supreme Being. Hence the English government 
will have to match the foregoing conditions before it can 
reasonably boast of giving liberty that God had pre¬ 
viously endowed the entire race w r ith. 

It is a poor excuse to hide behind the theoretic sen¬ 
timent that all men are fallible and only by the grace of 
God can any individual do right. That sentiment would 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


231 


practically charge God or Nature as responsible for all 
the wickedness that the selfish desire of man could sug¬ 
gest. The man who knows he is doing wrong betrays 
the fact, by the act itself, that he could do right if he 
by force of will chose to do so. The moral law needs 
very little theory or literature to express it, but the 
ability and literary talent to explain the why’s and 
wherefore’s that cause man to try to hide and justify 
his wickedness fills libraries with literature. Besides 
there is no act of man that is so directly the cause of 
wickedness and war, as the effort to compel the illiterate 
to serve the literate, or ignorance to serve knowledge. 
The mordern Pharisee is just as persistent in holding to 
superficial religion as the ancient Pharisee. Yet if it all 
occurs by the “grace of God” at what period in the 
world’s history did God or Nature ever neglect to punish 
the wicked? It would seem more to the point that it is 
only by the grace of God that we exist at all and the 
most astonishing feature of history is that God is so 
merciful and patient with the wicked. Are the profess¬ 
edly learned so lack in moral courage as to withhold 
what they know to be true, and seek to protect their 
personal interest in like manner to English diplomacy in 
ever seeking to guide the policy of the United States, not 
for the benefit of her offspring but for her own aggran¬ 
dizement. The silent reader that can read his daily 
paper is bright enough to understand that England had 
no real sympathy for the blacks while she was grinding 
hope itself out of her own white subjects. The events 
that occurred later proved it also. 

Theories in the absence of recognition of the science 
of correct reasoning will not deceive the people in the 


232 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


reading age. Besides no people can be taught diplomat¬ 
ically or compulsively that it is a duty to serve the tea¬ 
cher, and more decidedly so when the teacher gives evi¬ 
dence that he excuses himself from practicing the duty 
he tries to impress upon others. If the civil war in 
America was not a sufficient warning to convince aris¬ 
tocracy that democracy was a growing plant, future 
events will doubtless be more impressive. 

Social customs in the South were more in accord with 
English aristocracy than at the North. Society in the 
North was more inclined to Plutocracy, that is, the 
people who were becoming wealthy had very little acade¬ 
mic culture, for instance John Jacob Astor could scarcely 
read when he came over in the steerage of a sailing ship, 
and if culture promotes wealth, the cultivation his pro¬ 
geny has received in proportion to the pioneer’s lack of it 
they should have owned America at least, at the present. 

It was therefore quite in evidence that the grace of 
God is not always direct to the protection of aristoc¬ 
racy which was more developed at the South, besides 
they had controlled the entire nation politically from its 
birth, added to the entire aristocratic support of Europe. 
The tentative support of England taxed her diplomatic 
skill, for it is no secret that the aristocracy was scarcely 
restrained from shouting their delight at the prospect of 
the overthrow of democratic possibilities in America. 
The silent democracy of England however was not so 
dull in intellectual understanding as to join in the 
chorus. To prevent a possible misunderstanding of the 
relation of culture or education to the system of aristoc¬ 
racy, it should be viewed without prejudice. Aristocracy 
is a “principle” only in its relation to monarchy. The 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


233 


fundamental principle of culture and education has no 
relation to aristocracy except that it can be taught in 
like manner as tools can be used for burglarious pur¬ 
poses without any stigma attached to the tools. Hence 
it is a serious error to think that a cultured person is 
necessarily aristocratic. Scholars to their shame know 
more than they are willing to teach. It is to derive per¬ 
sonal advantage or submissive servitude from the illiterate 
that prompts a scholar to teach obedience rather than 
by a simple process teach or encourage enlightenment. 

The policy of England toward America is parallel to 
the political system of the United States making it a 
•criminal offence to teach a slave how to read, or the 
mere passing of a book to one would consign a person 
to State prison. It was in disguise of the fear of servile 
insurrection. Besides, whoever used his culture and 
•oratorical ability in denouncing a system so unchristian 
would be persecuted scarcely less than Christ was. It 
should be seen therefore that education as a principle is 
not responsible for the false idea that culture is only 
permissible by the grace of aristocratic society. 

It is not strange therefore that aristocracy will con¬ 
tinue to teach obedience to a class system of society 
when it no doubt fully believes its very existence de¬ 
pends upon it. A mule, however, cannot exist upon its 
own stubbornness, the simile of which is fully revealed 
in history. 

England’s tentative disposition to meddle with the 
policy of other nations was illustrated in the treachery 
of Benedict Arnold. It was due to English bribe and 
Arnold’s well known weakness for superficial society. 
The same influence was exerted upon Adams and Ham- 


234 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


ilton, both lived to the end avowed monarchists. While 
liberty embraces the right of opinion it does not include 
the liberty to support a class system that depends en¬ 
tirely upon servile obedience, for at just that point the 
Golden Rule and Declaration of Independence take 
effect. It is a reflection upon the principle of culture 
as not being responsible for the classical division of hu¬ 
manity that Gladstone, while recognizing the monarchial 
government with the obedience due a subject, he could 
not disguise the fact from his utterances that he 
was a democrat, therefore he could not have been an 
aristocrat. He emulated Washington, even by declining 
a title as being inconsistent with his public utterances. 
The world will always remember him, however, as “ the 
grand old man.” 

It is also a mistake to hold that inherent liberty sug¬ 
gests a prohibition of exclusive society, that is a private 
right as inherent as liberty itself. What liberty does 
suggest, however, is that no society is privileged to exist 
upon the compulsory service either directly or by the 
science of politics, intimidation or any feature that has 
for its object the depriving of man, woman or child of 
their natural rights. Liberty with a specific condition 
attached to it is as absurd as a condition attached to the 
sense of sight limiting a person to what he is privileged 
to see by supreme authority. It is a privilege that 
every person is endowed with that no class or system of 
human invention can overcome. 

The slave owner by his control of a political system 
sought to control the ever growing principle of democ¬ 
racy by emulating the diplomacy of England. The 
naming of a political party as democratic was for the 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


2 3 $ 


same purpose as the subterfuge of England in pre¬ 
tending to be in sympathy with the oppressed, while in 
reality it was an effort to protect the apparent danger tO' 
aristocracy which was founded for no other purpose than 
servile obedience. The democratic party, so named, rep¬ 
resented the most radical devotees to monarchy and 
aristocracy that existed in the United States. Monar- 
chial magnates led by Adams and Hamilton were re¬ 
sponsible for the organization of the political system of 
America, and enthusiastic adherents would point to the 
growth of America as due to their foresight. The facts 
however, that history reveals to democratic readers, are 
that the common people were the democracy in all 
nations that have existed upon the earth. No better 
proof exists than that an organization named itself dem¬ 
ocratic for the sole purpose of disguising its real object. 

It was like a man claiming to be Christian because he 
was so registered by name. That the progress of social 
harmony—civilization is due to the efforts of a class of 
society who literally proclaim themselves to be the 
“ better class ” is precisely as false as the most mon- 
archial group of American society naming itself dem¬ 
ocratic. Civilization and social progress have always been 
due to the untiring energy of natural man. The con¬ 
flict between David and Goliath if only a literal romance 
makes the story a literary illustration of all the pro¬ 
gressive events that have occurred. The mere trying to 
believe differently, is like the mule trying to exist by de¬ 
vouring his own stubbornness. Again literature is mere 
word pictures of the manifestation of Nature. If litera¬ 
ture is figurative and prone to misrepresent the facts, it 
is the worse for the literature while it does not disturb* 


236 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


the fact. If an artist paints the picture of a dog with 
•only three legs while the model had four, it does not 
compel the dog to go lame. Literature is a witness that 
must submit to a cross examination, if it does not pos¬ 
sess merit enough to protect itself it will be in vain to 
claim it was due to an error in the fact, rather than any 
possible defect in the illustration. 

A man or a nation may devise some emblem of toler¬ 
ation toward the oppressed people, it will, as is often the 
case be the means of revealing a motive that requires 
constant attention to hide. The diplomat will employ 
the most skillful writers, not so much to reveal facts as 
to hide them. Literature that appealed to the imagina¬ 
tion, or to the natural appetite of all humanity, in the 
disguise of a benefactor to the intended victim, required 
as much courage to combat during the anti-slavery agi¬ 
tation in the “land of the free” as Christianity needed 
in the time of Christ. 

Men who possessed scholarly ability were unmerci¬ 
fully assailed by the combative ability of others equally 
learned to prove that illiterate or natural man was the 
property of his cultivated superior. The dogma of regen- 
eracy and natural depravity was thoroughly ventilated, 
also the eminent authorities were quoted to show 
the survival of the fittest, and also that the lowest 
class of humanity had always been wards of their supe¬ 
riors. It was also shown by elaborate statistics that 
nothing but the most severe physical labor would keep 
the great mass of ignorant foreigners from rapine and 
murder. Free speech was assailed as being a failure, 
while monarchial governments were declared to be the 
only consistent method by which “ society ” could feel 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


237 


safe. The most prominent preachers of the gospel 
were pro slavery, notably those who received the largest 
salaries. There were others however who were severely 
denounced and stigmatized as ignorant because they 
practiced a method of itinerary and associated with 
the very lowest class. The freedom of religion was de¬ 
nounced and all traveling anti-slavery “ranters ” as they 
were styled were turned down and branded as dema¬ 
gogues. It was noticeable however that natural man, the 
real democrat, was always humane to the weather beaten 
foot traveler. Large communities of Irish and poor 
working people were scattered about the Northern 
States, and anti-slavery preachers were always listened 
to with great attention. Colored preachers who had 
purchased their freedom but scarcely dared to travel by 
daylight for fear of being forcibly kidnapped and sold 
again, would occasionally venture among the common 
people with whom they would feel comparatively safe. 

When people who assumed to be the guardians of 
social order were mere examples themselves of protect¬ 
ing only a specific society, claiming also to be the “ best 
society,” it was not strange that anti-slavery became 
very popular among people who were treated scarcely 
less than slaves themselves. The plutocrat was often 
democratic and a strict advocate of moral rectitude, but 
if a dollar was involved he could change to an aristocrat 
as quick as a slave holder could declare himself to be a 
staunch democrat. Poor illiterate people would become 
confused by the example of the “best people,” who 
demand a service with the air of an autocrat. Besides 
about the first training a child received was rever¬ 
ence for its “betters” as it was commonly expressed. 


238 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


It was remarkable how little social disturbance there 
was in communities that were almost wholly confided to 
a Catholic Priest. The fear of future punishment ap¬ 
peared to restrain the illiterate from the exercise of 
“inherent immorality.” It was at least to their credit 
to fear they would be punished for evil doing, but what 
could they think when people came among them exhib¬ 
iting the luxury of culture and leisure who seemed to 
have no fear of punishment either in the present or 
future. It doubtless taxed the wisdom of the Priest to 
explain it, particularly when he was subject to calumni¬ 
ous attacks of Protestants who tried to appear superior by 
really acting inferior. The activity of national politics 
that aroused the common instinct against monarchy had 
the effect to unite democracy against the common enemy. 
Religious controversy was dropped when a united democ¬ 
racy became apparent. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


239 


CHAPTER XXIII. 

T HAT politics is the science of deception could 
scarcely be doubted after reading of and observing 
the working of the American system. Its relation 
to aristocracy is a notable feature of American progress, 
and also its organic system as a mediator between the 
common people and their government. A republican 
form of government is termed representative, hence a 
political system bears the same relation to a republic 
as aristocracy bears to a monarchy. There are so many 
convenient words in the English language having prac¬ 
tically the same meaning, that it would seem to suggest 
a purpose of deception to make it as difficult as possible 
for an illiterate person to get a clear understanding of 
the methods by which he is governed. If divine author¬ 
ity is believed to be the fundamental principle of govern¬ 
ment, it is important to observe whether a monarchial 
or republican form is in accord with the first principle. 
Both are representative; monarchy by an aristocratic 
system, while a republic is political in exact imitation 
of the former. The importance of deceiving the food- 
producing people is just as apparent in one as the other. 
It follows therefore that a monarchy is more consistent 
in supporting the intermediate class, for the reason that 
it is held as a divine privilege. Now to organize a polit¬ 
ical system in imitation of aristocracy with the avowed 


240 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


purpose of assisting democracy was decidedly snobbish. 
The United States as a constitutional government gives 
no direct support to either a political or aristocratic sys¬ 
tem between the people as a whole and the executive. 
The framers of the Constitution, after their failure to- 
persuade Washington to be crowned King of America, 
did what all aristocrats do, that is, they did the next best 
thing while they had the power to deceive the people. 
Their cunning betrayed them in spite of all the patriotic 
songs that were encouraged to make the people feel like 
“citizens,” even if they were subjects. It is doubtless 
believed by many, that any person too ignorant to know 
the difference between serving and being served must 
peacefully submit to any service that his cultured superi¬ 
ors demand. 

There is plenty of evidence in history that moral ethics 
were not as popular as personal interests, and while it is 
doubtless true that the illiterate are dependents from a 
social point of view, it cannot embrace however a servile 
condition that the system of aristocracy has always tried 
to justify. A compromise with evil is more preservative 
than destructive, and people too illiterate to be heard or 
even permitted to express their feelings, are not so void 
of sense as not to observe the wickedness of people who 
flaunt their talents in a disregard of any moral restraint. 
The grumbling of mobocracy is as much a method of 
expression as the more polished method, it conveys a 
warning at least. Besides no autocratic authority, how¬ 
ever brilliant, has ever been able to overcome physical 
force. It appears so from the illusive methods of ex¬ 
pression, but physical force is a natural force as inde¬ 
structible as sunlight, while mental force, in its ability to 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


241 


employ art, is always compelled to compromise. It is 
neither an experiment nor a hobby but an every day fact. 
Besides, history makes no disguise that physical force is 
both a necessity and prior to artificial force. There is 
no evidence that compulsory moral teaching was ever 
productive, while plenty of evidence exists that moral 
suasion or the labor of love has improved society. Hence 
the relation of morality to physical, also including the 
metaphysical and artificial, is as light to darkness. It 
is revealed to the individual, and only transferable by an 
agreement or reciprocity. No artificial method of teach¬ 
ing morality has ever appeared superior to that by which 
the individual is endowed, with no reason to doubt that 
every individual is equally favored. The effort of a 
specific class of society to control a government of which 
they are a part, is just as apparent in the United States 
as the most autocratic nation on the earth. 

A king makes no disguise of favoring a specific class 
of society: he is therefore consistent in his method of 
governing, but a republic trying to disguise its relation 
to the whole people by embracing a political system for 
the purpose of favoring a specific society is more remark¬ 
able for duplicity than a monarchy. The mere playing 
with words will not hide the object for which such meth¬ 
ods are employed. The mere calling people “citizens.”' 
is no equivalent to the practical recognizing them as 
such, and what would appear to be a reasonable excuse 
for not trusting the people with sufficient discretion in 
self control, is quite as applicable to politicians as humble 
“citizens.” That is, if people must be trained to a con¬ 
dition of honesty before they can become the equal of 
a politician it is more interesting than serious. 


242 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

•By reason of conflicting interests in the different States 
when the federal government was formed, a compromise 
was at least preferable to a revolt between the States, 
but the effort to deceive the people by reason of their 
being ignorant of the method, there is no excuse for any 
person who knew better. Personal interest has always 
been more apparent in the conduct of mankind than any 
special regard for others. There is no evidence that any 
system of education has been convincing to the general¬ 
ity of mankind that submission was more creditable than 
defence. 

The uncultured man reasons just as correctly from his 
standpoint of personal interest as the cultured man who 
is entirely devoted to his own interest. The inequality 
is confined to whatever degree of talent the individ¬ 
ual possesses. There is neither sense or wit in the claim 
of one individual to any special privilege of defending his 
personal interests, while he claims that others are de¬ 
pendent upon him by reason of deficiency of wit. Food 
is the first principle that a continued existence depends 
upon, and if wit is superior to the physical force in ob¬ 
taining food, it fails to prove it under a stress of circum¬ 
stances. Science reveals natural law as a picture reflects 
an object, it requires mental activity to obtain such a 
result. The necessity for food can be supplied by the 
mere physical desire, a natural phenomenon that outwits 
the witty. Hence natural man to the cultivated is as 
nature to its picture, or whatever superficial man is en¬ 
abled to put on by the aid of art, it has no effect upon 
natural man except to make him either timid or vain. 
While these thoughts can be treated as mere speculation, 
it is no less the privilege of the individual to treat them 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


243 


seriously, from his own experience and the observation of 
others. 

The age of reading has not rendered its account in 
full: it would seem to be in order however, for studious 
people to read the signs, and in times of plenty give 
some attention to a possible famine. If the relation of 
art to nature can be constantly disguised from the read¬ 
ing democrat, by the wit that has always been employed 
in the interest of aristocracy, it cannot be denied by the 
person possessing said wit, that no army in active warfare 
was ever stronger than its food supply. There is no 
process from the evidence of history of depriving a man 
of his wit more effectual than cutting him off from his 
base of supplies, and what can prevent the democracy of 
the world (always the majority) from discovering their 
strength, when if they read at all they cannot fail to dis¬ 
cover the dependency of aristocracy upon democracy, wit 
vs. food. There is no more probability that the effort to 
educate democracy to serve aristocracy will be any more 
successful than chattel slavery. 

The stubbornness that the Southern States defended 
the system of aristocracy would suggest the hope at 
least that the natural rights of democracy would be 
recognized in America without the resort to war, which 
would of necessity be of greater magnitude. It is not 
necessary to rewrite history, or examine the numerous 
authorities for any specific purpose, it is its influence 
upon the democratic reader that concerns the future, and 
what possible obstacle aristocracy will erect to obstruct 
its advance. That aristocracy as a system will ever 
surrender unconditionally the wars of the past give no 
evidence. To the contrary, however, at every defeat, 


244 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


it merely adopts different tactics with the same objects 
always in view. 

It is a fact worthy of note that in the darkest days of 
the civil war, the cause of the South was championed by 
cultured persons who boldly expressed themselves in de¬ 
fence of ancient philosophy in the interest of culture, and 
treating the effort to subdue the South as a menace to 
high ideals of manhood. Servile insurrection, mob rule, 
and disrespect for law and order were freely prophesied 
if the higher ideals of the South were not recognized,, 
practically a surrender of democracy to aristocracy; the 
exact counterpart of the Colonial revolt against England. 
The conflict was a complete exposure of the former polit¬ 
ical system to the pretended popular form of government 
that the United States enjoyed in name only. 

Writers who espoused the cause of the South, betrayed 
their pro-aristocratic sentiment by entirely ignoring the 
expression of the large majority of the people who 
elected Lincoln. It is this feature that exposes the du¬ 
plicity of a political system and also that no opportunity 
had previously occurred since the formation of the gov¬ 
ernment to test the virtue of majority rule. Besides, it 
was only due in this instance to a resort to arms in de¬ 
fence of minority rule. It thoroughly exposed the de¬ 
ceptive character of the political system founded at the 
instigation of John Adams. The civil war revealed the 
very purpose of the system to deceive the people who 
were taught in primary schools to sing praises to God 
for being born in the “ land of the free.” It also showed 
by the result of the war that a nation could exist by the 
will of the majority, and entirely disproved the sentiment 
that it is the will of God that the cultivated class is 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


245 


privileged to rule those of lesser light. It would have 
been a more valuable lesson if the political system could 
have been forced to a defeat as decisive as the institution 
of chattel slavery. Whether civilization is mature enough 
to comprehend a democratic government or not, the 
civil war in America demonstrated that a democratic 
majority could defend itself against the intrigues of pol¬ 
itics and aristocracy both. Because the controlling dem¬ 
agogues of the early political system styled themselves 
“Democrats,” it did not succeed in deceiving all the 
people. Neither did the party name “ Republicans ” dis¬ 
pose of the relation of a political system to the system 
of aristocracy. Sawdust can be called meal, but no 
animal ever will grow fat upon it. It is an imposition 
upon the reading age that a political system receives the 
support of people who give evidence of sincerity in pro¬ 
moting the welfare of humanity. The present system 
is just as active in support of monarchial principles as it 
was previous to the civil war. Moral teachers vainly 
strive to teach the importance of purifying a system that 
would cease to be profitable if it became honest. The 
only way to polish evil is to rub it out entirely. A dem¬ 
ocratic government would not support such a luxury as 
an intermediate system between the individual and the 
official. 

Politics is a system of brokerage between the people 
and the governing officials. It is upheld by Legislatures, 
Congress, and government officials of every character. 
It is also sad to say, that even ministers of the. Gospel 
support the system, because the system and all its sup¬ 
porters get a commission that the people are compelled 
to pay. It was copied from the practice of the ancients, 


246 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


when the common people could not read. The inter¬ 
preter and money changer were often the same person, 
for it was profitable business. When the people learn 
to read (no thanks to any political system) it is as use¬ 
less as to pay anyone to read for you after you have 
settled for the privilege of learning how yourself. The 
business is too profitable, however, to surrender without 
a struggle. It is precisely what the South fought for so 
desperately, and the principle that politics is founded 
upon underlies all the wars in the history of the world. 
Aristocracy is as dependent upon a political system as a 
horse is upon his legs, or an army upon its food supply. 

Culture is incidentally connected with both a political 
and aristocratic system, it is independent however, of 
either as an existing principle. The tree of knowledge 
is so extensive that it is very vaguely expressed by call¬ 
ing it education. Any influence is an educator in what¬ 
ever form it appears, hence specific education is so 
meager, that to apply the word as expressing a limit is 
a mere flattery, and very unjust to the principle. Wealth, 
honor, and fame are too much of an accident to attribute 
them to a reward for diligent study. Washington was 
rewarded with honor and fame due more to character 
than any diligence of study. Illiterate men also have 
obtained the trio of rewards, while the most energetic 
ambition to obtain them has failed. To chase them, 
however desperately, is equivalent to seeking the limit 
of space. 

Natural intelligence receives no attention for the reason 
it possesses no attractions. The artificial is more at¬ 
tractive, because it embraces the principle of temptation 
which has an absolute necessity to progress. Natural 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


247 


law is more relentless than the artificial, even if the latter 
is able to satisfy the ambition for superficial honor and 
fame. It is generally admitted that a person is paid in 
whichever coin he prefers. It would seem therefore that 
the earth offered opportunities enough for becoming 
either wealthy or cultured without embracing either aris¬ 
tocracy or politics, for both are as dependent upon hu¬ 
man oppression as a fish is on water. Besides, no person 
is obliged to steal because he cannot drive the spirit of 
temptation from the earth. 

Washington set an example of democracy that would 
have prevented the civil war if his contemporaries had 
been as ready to sacrifice their personal interests for the 
henefit of the whole country as he was. Moses also 
tried to convince the Israelites that they could be just as 
democratic after they escape'd from bondage as before. 
But if they were the “chosen people” by precept, they 
tried to practice the privilege by oppressing others in 
like manner as they were oppressed. History repeats 
itself, and “privileged” people become the victims of 
their own neglect rather than any fault of their sur¬ 
roundings. 

After the civil war was over, England profited more 
by the lesson than the Americans did, for the reason 
that the States were still in the grip of the political 
system that indirectly caused the war. Personal inter¬ 
ests are just as prominent in one country as another, but 
the pride of English statesmen will neither lag behind 
cr permit a young nation to supersede her in civilization 
or reform movements. She exhibited that trait by lib¬ 
erating her slaves previous to the emancipation in the 
States. It is, however, from a quick conception of events 


248 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

that her noted diplomatic skill becomes so successful. 
American politicians vainly try to show their superiority 
over England by pointing to commercial progress, which 
is not due at all to a political system. Only two events 
have occurred in America that point directly to a dem¬ 
ocratic government. The first was when Washington 
refused to be crowned, and the second was when Lincoln 
was elected president. Both events were due to a pop¬ 
ular uprising that the political system was forced to con¬ 
cede, after violently resisting the principle involved which 
was strictly democratic. 

The general trend of political economies and writers 
upon the subject of social reforms, betray a fear that 
personal interests would suffer from a democratic rule. 
Corrupt city governments are pointed to as examples of 
democratic rule. Very little is written however, of the 
influence of a political system that requires ability scarcely 
to be obtained outside of a college. If such ability can 
find means to convince an illiterate man he is a demo¬ 
crat, while the strength of his vote is used to prop up 
a declining aristocracy, it is not so much the fault of 
the victim as the man who takes advantage of his weak¬ 
ness for the purpose of betraying him. The credulity 
of natural man is so prominent that it is an attempt at 
a joke to classify him as dangerous in view of the dan¬ 
gers that surround him. 

Aristocracy and monarchy are so absolutely dependent 
upon each other that the wisdom of England’s states¬ 
men is taxed to the utmost. They give evidence how¬ 
ever, of a sagacity that political magnates of America 
would do well to emulate. The “writing on the wall” 
is much quicker interpreted by English statesmen than 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


249 


is evident from any action of her progeny. The English 
can see the corrupting influence of the political system 
of the United States upon the principle of government 
and social reform. The system would inaugurate a re¬ 
sort to war before it will surrender its profit, just as it 
did to uphold the institution of slavery, also from the 
evidence of the past, aristocracy will continue to act 
likewise. Both natural man and natural law will be a 
factor that neither English diplomacy nor political wit will 
be able to overcome successfully. 

The aristocrat has no guarantee of a continued exist¬ 
ence, besides, he is not remarkable for propagation. The 
system is dependent upon democracy for its recruits, 
hence the shrewdness of English statesmen becomes 
apparent. The English government made haste after 
the civil war in America, in granting concessions to its 
subjects instead of threatening them with bayonets be¬ 
yond the necessity of police duty. It is also notable 
that every concession a monarchy makes toward its sub¬ 
jects, the nation improves both socially and commercially. 
This principle has not escaped the notice of Englishmen, 
besides, the unquestionable fact that men of great intel¬ 
lectual ability, know even more than they dare to express, 
for the simple reason their personal interests are involved. 
We can sound the praise of Washington, while we lack 
the courage to emulate his act. 

The quibbling over the principle of education is an 
evidence of weakness rather than a display of strength. 
When it is employed in a manner to protect self inter¬ 
ests, it becomes an insignificant factor in solving social 
problems, it is like trying to make a hole in the ocean 
with a pin. What a man knows is personal property, it 


250 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


is only his acts that humanity is interested in. Specific 
education controlled by a political system that is more- 
devoted to a protection of the system than any regard 
for humanity, is a blind that makes darkness darker if it 
were possible. Religion, liberty, and education are prin¬ 
ciples as absolute as sunlight, that the history of human 
events bears witness and can only be disputed by the 
ability of man to play with words and deceive the un¬ 
wary with methods, forms, and pictures, that in no sense 
disturb the fact. Any theology that holds to a divine 
revelation giving any person authority to either teach or 
command an obedience of another person would embrace 
monarchy, aristocracy, and the right to own human be¬ 
ings as property. It would also include an alliance with 
a political system. If events have not already occurred 
to convince people who claim to be learned, that such 
doctrines were formulated prior to the printing press for 
the protection of kings, and the effort to keep the masses- 
in darkness rather than for the avowed purpose of en¬ 
lightening them, other events will doubtless occur still 
more convincing. 

That theories have to be adjusted to conform to 
unexpected facts, is evidence enough to the ordinary 
reasoner that persons acting from a professed privilege 
of divine authority are decidedly out of date. Besides* 
the multitude of “ visions” that are being proclaimed 
would suggest the probability that entire humanity 
was individually subject to visions of some character. 
The human race would starve to death if Nature had not 
provided some attraction of a decided visionary charac¬ 
ter ; the human pilgrim would have to pay dear for alL 
the privileges he would obtain from his predecessor. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


251 


Free religion is at least recognized by the United 
States. It includes free education as a natural sequence, 
but when a political system makes itself instructive as a 
commercial enterprise for profit, its non-essential char¬ 
acter will doubtless appear in due time. 


CHAPTER XXIV. 

T HE greatest “trust” in the United States at the 
present time is the Political System. All other 
“ trusts ” of greater or less degree depend upon 
the giant system as a foundation for the greatest pyra¬ 
mid of corruption ever existing in such a united com¬ 
pacted body. It indirectly exercises such an influence 
upon the judiciary of both State and Federal govern¬ 
ments that a conviction of any person connected with 
the system would be treated as an accident and corrected 
by the syitem itself. The man who possesses the proper 
“pull ” has very little to fear. It is very rarely, and 
only for the protection of the system itself, that a victim 
is entirely abandoned. 

The fact that the system is divided into parties would 
doubtless seem strange, but that is merely to cover the 
whole ground. Political factions contend violently against 
each other, (note the duel between Hamilton and Burr), 
but they were always harmonious in their relation to 
the food producing people. All factions were demo- 


252 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


cratic in sentiment and equally united in aristocratic 
action. The non-essential feature of the system itself 
was never considered to be a subject of public discussion. 
Individually, men may have been connected with the 
system who were sincerely interested in the common 
welfare of humanity. It was doubtless believed from a 
theological standpoint, that the illiterate were dependent 
upon some system of an intermediate character that 
only men of literate ability could successfully meet. It 
no doubt seemed reasonable when books of every de¬ 
scription were only concerned in the support of this pro- 
aristocratic idea. Even the most skeptical writers upon 
religious subjects would not admit that natural man held 
any’position in humanity other than wards of the educated. 

A political system entirely divorced from any theo¬ 
logical system is a unique condition, having no parallel 
in history. Human vanity would seem to be about the 
only foundation that is reasonably apparent for the 
American system to rest upon. It is more definitely 
seen what the object is by reason of the system bearing 
witness against itself. 

No possible reason for its existence can be shown 
other than a profit to the system. Any effort to regen¬ 
erate or reform it will result in failure, for in the absence 
of profit, the system would melt away like snow. Hence 
to reform the system would deprive it of the very object 
that makes its existence possible. There is no complaint 
numerated in the Declaration of Independence, but what 
is mild compared with what the people are compelled to 
submit to at the present time, yet the organs of the sys¬ 
tem will show sympathy for other countries where auto¬ 
cratic systems will not permit their subjects to have any 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


253 


voice in the government. No government can exist at 
all without providing for the protection of its food pro¬ 
ducing people. Even the aristocracy in other countries 
show some charity for the poor; they will not try to steal 
the very sunshine from people on whom their own ex¬ 
istence depends. 

With the lesson of the civil war and the fierce con¬ 
tentions between the two factions of the system, itfshould 
have been recognized that the victory at arms was more 
of a defeat for the political system by reason of the con¬ 
trolling power of the system being the aggressor. It 
should be remembered also, that the weaker faction of 
the system was ready to divide the country, compromise, 
or perform any humiliating act rather than sacrifice 
their interest in the system, because their personal inter¬ 
ests were involved. The welfare of humanity was con¬ 
spicuous in the system by its absence since its primary 
formation. Events are grasped by men who can give 
elaborate reasons for their occurrence, but always after 
they occur. It was the democratic people who gave such 
unmistakable evidence of not permitting the dissolution 
of the Union by reason of a quarrel confined to the 
political system. It would be absurd to even pretend 
that a system founded upon personal greed cared any¬ 
thing about slavery or to what extent working people 
were oppressed. 

Chattel slavery could have been taken care of without 
a war if the Constitution had been respected, which in¬ 
directly recognized the authority of the people in the 
fifth article, in rather an obscure manner, however: it 
is simply a provision for an amendment of the Constitu¬ 
tion itself. It is the only recognition of the Declaration 


254 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY./ 


of Independence in the entire Constitution. It is so 
provisioned however, that a political system can ma¬ 
nipulate it in its ability to misrepresent any circumstance 
that would benefit the people at the expense of the system. 
There was no occasion for war however, for the same 
majority that could successfully defend the Union with 
muskets could, in the absence of a political system, be 
just as powerful with a united vote in preventing war. 

It was the deceptive sentiments such as “knowledge 
rules the world” and “the survival of the fittest” that 
misled the judgment of the controlling element of the 
political system, supposed to embrace the wisest men of 
the nation. The result proved they were right in senti¬ 
ment but decidedly wrong in application. That the 
system had no respect for the government that was 
founded on equal rights in the sight of God, the civil 
war was ample proof. 

It would appear from the activity of politics after the 
war that a man’s judgment is entirely controlled by seli- 
interests. It is certainly very prominent in American 
politics that the higher branches of culture do not pro¬ 
mote morality, for whatever could be said in praise of a 
political leader’s astuteness and intellectual ability, no 
one would recognize him as being remarkable as a moral 
example. 

The system patronizes every circumstance 'that will 
contribute to any end that is immediately in view. A 
man will preach morality of the highest order while he 
will condone the evil tendencies of the age, which merely 
reflects the disposition in man to subscribe to any cause 
that gives promise of the greatest profit for the least 
exertion. The politician will join a church for the sole 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


255 


purpose of supporting a system that he is dependent 
upon for a livelihood. The preacher will defend an illu¬ 
sive necessity for a political system upon the common 
ground of a mediator between the food producer and a 
privilege to produce, that his government permits only 
by the solicitation of a mediator 1 . The go-between feature 
of life is impressed upon the attention of a food 
producer with such a show of interest for his hard lot 
in life that he makes greater effort to pay his taxes and 
feel thankful for the privilege. 

Individual combativeness in the absence of any con¬ 
structiveness is as barren of results as a sandy desert. 
Also the person who is made to feel that he is a depend¬ 
ent creature, and that self-dependence is a myth, the 
individual could well ask himself, why he was endowed 
with five senses and reasoning faculties without the priv¬ 
ilege to use them. That silent humanity has no judg¬ 
ment except what is taught to them is a disrespect to the 
Almighty, and a serious student of the present social 
•disorder could find plenty of cause, if he examined the 
social condition of higher life rather than trying to im¬ 
agine the trouble is due to the corrupting influence of 
the ever crowding presence of natural man. It is easier 
to find excuses for our desires than to adjust them to 
the equal rights of others. It is a mistake to think a 
man is ignorant (except as the term applies to all per¬ 
sons) when he reads his daily paper. No man is more 
ignorant than to try to cultivate a belief that the reading 
man however silent does not know what he is reading 
about. It is more the evidence of conceit than wisdom 
to ignore facts that have the same relation to theories 
-is light to shadows. 


25 6 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


An issue is the most important feature that taxes the 
intellectual lights of the political system to their utmost 
power. It is always considered seriously behind closed 
doors, and no greater crime can a politician commit, in 
the judgment of the system, than to disclose secrets. 
Publicity is the only enemy the system fears, and a po¬ 
litical traitor would seek in vain to obtain food for his 
starving children. That publicity will dissolve evil in 
like manner to the reproductive power of Nature in ex¬ 
tracting virtue from putrid decay, is a well known fact. 
It is a well known fact also that men of both literal and 
oratorical ability will banter with words, and traffic with 
human beings to gratify their desires, or obtain their 
object. People are trained by the bloodsuckers of hu¬ 
man happiness to refrain from exposing men whose 
standing in society would be imperilled, showing distinct¬ 
ly that the ability to hide eviPwas the best use one could 
make of his talent. Well disposed people who scarcely 
appear to give a thought beyond what they are trained 
to express will relieve their mind by declaring, that “all 
things happen for the best, and the less said the sooner 
mended.” A politician would rub his hands in delight 
at such sentiments. Also a defaulter (the polite word 
for thief) will applaud the same sentiments. Nature will 
not be accommodating to any specific class of society or 
organized system, to deprive an individual of his just 
dues. It is generally considered very impolitic to evert 
question or contend against long established customs. 
It is also a custom of so long standing that it amounts 
to irreverence to disregard the opinion of a “ superior.” 
The definition of the word irreverent shows distinctly 
that Webster’s dictionary is pro-aristocratic, while it is. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


257 


no question of fact that some individuals are superior to 
others, it would be interesting to learn by what rule su¬ 
periority is applied to a political system and its conting¬ 
ent— the individual voter. It would furnish material 
for a volume to specify all the superior qualities that man 
is endowed with. It is the individual privilege to meas¬ 
ure himself, and even determine if his superior qualities 
will entitle him to become connected with a political 
system. After such elevation it would be “irreverent” 
as recognized in “excellent literature” to scarcely in¬ 
quire what the issue was, of one of the satellites of the 
system. How humble it would make a natural man feel 
after his pride had been stimulated by being told he was 
a “citizen of the glo— etc.,” that he was too illiterate 
to be able to understand the issue. With the most pro¬ 
fuse suavity of manner, the system’s satellite will tell 
the voter that by reason of his lack of intelligence, the 
system had made provision for protecting his welfare by 
having an assistant that would be happy to “serve” 
him by marking his vote for him, when he would be 
permitted to exercise his “citizenship” by placing it 
properly in the box, and it might be added, that the 
natural man was asked if he could see any chance for 
fraud in such a practical system. It would make the 
farce of voting more farcial however, to listen to some 
philanthropist with the expression of fear, exclaiming : 
“ What will be the outcome if we continue to permit our 
ignorant wards to exercise the responsibility of citizen¬ 
ship ? ” It would almost appear that it was a misfortune 
to be born human, for it is not expected of animals that 
“life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” will be dis¬ 
turbed by literate puzzles. 


2 5 8 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


Any person of his own private knowledge, who knows 
of the corruption of the American system of politics, 
and withholds the public expression of it for fear of 
losing his salary or social standing, is an abettor. If he 
can convince himself, it is his private privilege to de¬ 
termine such a question, he admits by his silence that 
he is not entitled to the respect of being treated reveren¬ 
tially. It is the system that this writing is dealing with 
rather than the personality of its operators. If the in¬ 
dividual operator feels that his personality is assailed by 
a public expression of reproach against a system he is 
connected with, he will bear witness against himself 
when he denies the right of an individual voter to ex¬ 
press his opinion in words as well as votes. The only 
social reforms that history records could always be traced 
to a fearless expression of opinion, it always embraces 
consequences that the individual will be obliged to settle 
with himself. If he thinks he is shrewd enough to hide 
himself or shirk behind those he is willing to serve, he 
will doubtless have an opportunity to settle his account 
that must be as individual as his advent upon earth. 
There is no remarkable evidence that any human being 
ever suffered more after he returned to earth, than dur¬ 
ing the brief period he was trusted with his liberty. 
That is, if he can defy the consciousness of his own 
wickedness, he should at least be forgiven by his victims 
even if God’s mercy can spare him from any further 
punishment. 

It is publicity that safeguards society ; no man needs 
to fear it if he acts according to the light he has, it is 
his privilege to believe that a political system can be 
purified. If he acts from a sense of duty, he is just as 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


259 


much entitled to his opinion as another man, but a 
system that depends on secrecy for its success is a 
defiance of the principle of publicity. Because the in¬ 
dividual is endowed with private rights, it does not 
include a right to deprive others of what he claims for 
himself. If he tries to reason by analogy that it is a 
recognized paternal right to authority over its offspring, 
he should study the book of Nature before he tries to 
justify his claim to authority over those he considers in¬ 
ferior to himself. Besides it is a poor theory that de¬ 
pends upon secrecy to set it in motion. Animals even 
are a constant example of weaning their young. It sug¬ 
gests a period of maturity just as important to the adult 
as the paternal care was to the immature offspring. 
The book of Nature can be read in the first person, 
while literature is revealed to man in the third person. 
Human power reaches a limit that all philosophers and 
scientists are compelled to admit by the evidence of their 
own utterances, (it should be understood that “visions” 
are personal property). That the individual has ex¬ 
clusive rights to his thoughts, is an endowment that no 
other individual can deprive him of while soul and body 
are united. A person’s own method of expression is al¬ 
ways superior to any attempt even of another to express 
them for him. The fact that he is frightened by his 
surroundings and made to feel that degrees of excellence 
are the only permissible measures of public expression 
betrays the only foundation that a political system can 
feed upon. The ability to read, and the exclusive right 
to ones thoughts does not insure the courage of utterance. 
All educators, to be such, understand this principle. 
Their motive in giving excellence of expression a pre- 



26 o 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


eminence over what is often termed “mother wit” is 
pro-aristocratic. It forms the bond of union between 
the system of aristocracy and the American system of 
politics. The motive is the same in both systems — to 
intimidate natural man. That non-excellence is no bar 
to alliance when dollars or personal interests are involved 
is too evident to be commented upon beyond the one 
illustration of common observation — the average poli¬ 
tician is not remarkable for excellence of expression, and 
no evidence appears to show that it is considered at all 
as a requisite to join the system. If the excellence of 
expression is dependent on the present system of politics, 
it is more likely to become a lost art than any probabil¬ 
ity of a political system adopting the principle. Hence, 
when a person encourages evil for the commercial bene¬ 
fit derived from the business of reform, it is like a 
doctor joining an undertakers’ “ trust ” for mutual profit. 

That “children should be seen and not heard” ap¬ 
plies to natural man as a protection to the system of 
aristocracy. How does Nature treat such a condition? 
As regards the child, no parent can deny that the child 
will be heard in spite of all the efforts of the parents to 
prevent it. The child has methods of expression that 
often betray as much reason as excellent expressions. 
The adult, however, in his effort to combat art with any 
natural ability that he feels himself to be the possessor 
of shakes with fear as soon as he is told that a “trust” 
has been formed to severely punish every one who dares 
to use any expression not previously authorized by the 
“trust.” Plenty of stories children could read that were 
filled with terrible punishments that were inflicted upon 
children, and even men and women who disobeyed the 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


26l 


“ trust.” No! The stories did not call it “trust 
originally it was called “men who occupy a superior 
station in society.” It did not include women until the 
discovery that the excellence of expression would give 
tone to the “trust,” because in that field women would 
never surrender. It improved the “trust” in its effort 
to intimidate the food producing man. The term “vul¬ 
gar” was applied to all persons who worked with their 
hands, it made the excellence of expression more ex¬ 
pressive in the presence of humble humanity to call 
them “vulgar,” (they were sometimes alluded to in liter¬ 
ature as the “dangerous class.”) 

To do anything or make any remark not previously 
taught, subjected either man or child to a severe repri¬ 
mand from people of strict conviction. It was not sur¬ 
prising that the most neglected child would often surprise 
his parents and the entire neighborhood after running 
away from his surroundings, to return at a later period 
with independent ideas and evidence of success. It is 
not necessary to call attention to numerous instances 
where children were trained so severely that they were 
taken to the grave yard before they scarcely reached 
maturity, while others permitted to “ run wild ” as it was 
termed, grew up progressive at least. Current literature 
however, would always explain such seeming incon¬ 
sistencies. 

Silent observers would whisper their opinions among 
themselves, not daring to utter publicly what their nat¬ 
ural reason convinced them of. There are plenty of 
“vagaries,” so termed in literature, that cannot be with¬ 
held from reading democrats who are told how dangerous 
it is to read anything not recommended by some person 


262 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


of “superior” judgment. How a person is to find out 
whether another’s judgment is superior to his own 
without reading the book condemned, is for the individual 
to determine. Condemned books are severely read how¬ 
ever, to judge from their worn appearance when they are 
accidentally found in some obscure place. Much could be 
written in regard to clean and unclean reading matter. 
It is merely to show in this instance, that with all the 
obstacles that the individual meets, it is surprising that the 
“unwashed” (a political term used on the “stump” at 
a public rally when fears were expressed for the safety 
of the republic) multiplied so rapidly while aristocratic 
children are so scarce and delicate. 

Appearances, however, are as deceitful as politicians, 
and only for the natural inherent ability of the individ¬ 
ual to reason for himself, art would destroy itself with 
excellence, and natural man would disappear. It should 
convey a hint to the most prejudiced mind when such a 
multitude of little democrats are learning to read, but 
the standard of excellence can be elevated, unless the 
reading democrats should discover they could operate 
the government without asking permission of either the 
aristocratic or political system, both of which being 
organized by usurpers and not recognized by the Consti¬ 
tution. They are only permitted to exist, as the ruling 
power, by the sufferance of the people rather than the 
suffrage. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


263 


CHAPTER XXV. 

A T the present time when papers and magazines 
are filled with accounts of corruption in high 
places, the greed for dollars is the most prominent 
feature of attraction. Commercial combinations are 
constantly being formed into “trusts,” and every system 
of transportation is united in a common monopoly. The 
competitive system in trade being destroyed by the priv¬ 
ileges derived from the government that is entirely 
controlled by the political system, the personel of which 
is composed of “trust” magnates that not only control 
the United States Senate, but all the State Legislatures, 
and even the highest courts cannot be depended upon 
to protect a common interest. If knowledge ruled the 
world of old, it would seem proper to claim now that 
dollars had become more powerful than knowledge. 
The only trust however that is independent of the 
power of dollars is a trust in God. The “wise men” 
of old formulated a “trust” to establish an authority of 
man over man. The necessity for food was a fact be¬ 
yond dispute, but by the discovery that knowledge could 
be measured by degrees, it was a fiat of the “ wise men ” 
that superiorty of degree justified a subjugation of an 
inferior. It established human equality in groups ac¬ 
cording to rank, equals were called peers. People who 


264 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


gave no evidence of possessing sufficient knowledge to 
be measured by degrees were termed ignorant, and in 
order to disguise the relation of knowledge to experience, 
because it was observed that a commoner knew as much 
as animals, they were recognized as possessing instinct. 
The word instinct was derived from an effort to express 
a natural act that was not suggested by reason. Reason 
was supposed to be a distinct faculty that only men of 
superior ability possessed. Slaves were whipped severely 
for any display of reason, such as refusing to work or 
by running away. It was evidence of an unbalanced 
mind for a “servant” of any character to express a 
reason after being told by his “superior” that he did 
not possess any. It was a severe strain upon the minds 
of the wise men of old to write philosophical books to 
prove his own wisdom. It was proved that man de¬ 
veloped by the principle of attraction ; instances were 
noticed where a man who gave little evidence of intelli¬ 
gence, would seem to drift toward the fire in' cold 
weather; also to be promoted in rank stimulated a more 
noble type of man. It was remarked by servants (to 
each other) that it required a much better quality of 
food to develop a person who did no work than for one 
who did. 

Men of high rank would give evidence of natural 
responsibilities by expressing regret for being, consigned 
to a station in life that servants even aspired to, while 
he envied them their happiness that was often quite 
conspicuous. The most remarkable excuse that the mind 
of man ever concocted to justify his existence upon 
earth without earning his own living was the dogma of 
natural depravity. In order to make the claim consist- 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


265 


-ent, the supernatural had to be established by a fiat of 
the “ wise ” men that are recognized as such by the most 
eminent historians. 

The relation of this dogma to current events is the 
motive for calling attention to it. The day is past 
when a person can be justly charged with irreverence 
for sacred subjects in rejecting the opinions of others by 
the mere expression of his own. That theology is ad¬ 
justed to conditions that become a recognized fact is 
proof enough that they are fallible, while Nature gives 
no evidence of adjustment to accommodate the vagaries 
of man. To deny this dogma would be very inconsistent, 
while the person denying it clings to the object for which 
it was established. That is, for a person to hold that 
regeneracy is necessary before a person can enjoy a con¬ 
viction of peace with God, admits that obedience to 
human authority is not only a duty but a special privi¬ 
lege to admonish others for holding a different opinion. 
An act without a reason for performing it would not be 
an act of volition, and if a reason could not be discov¬ 
ered by a questioner, the person acting could not be held 
responsible for the act. 

The very first conception of establishing a ruling class 
of society introduced a system of compulsory service. 
Natural man was considered a dependent upon the pro¬ 
tection of the government that could only be conducted 
by superior ability. It was a simple matter to adjust 
theories to conform to the necessity for food. The king 
was a despot, and all the land in his kingdom was the 
property of the crown. Courtiers were ordained by fa¬ 
vor of the king and the land was divided into estates 
that could only be cultivated by consent of the favored 


266 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


courtiers. While wild animals were free to obtain the 
food to sustain life by the mere plucking of it wherever 
it could be found, natural man was a dependent on land 
tenure. As man was dependent upon the product of the 
soil and the possession established by conquest con¬ 
stituted ownership, a class favored by an acknowledged 
king would become the ruling class by virtue of the 
favor of the king. A serf being dependent upon the 
soil that was disposed of by favor of a king became a. 
dependent of a ruling class. Hence the division of hu¬ 
manity was justified by the reasoning faculties that 
might made right. Reason will always favor the desired 
object, which in all cases was to obtain the necessary 
food to sustain life. Menial labor is less desirable than 
any other form, and men who were privileged to choose 
work or play, by the favor of a king became a distinct: 
class. It was a desirable privilege without question, and 
every effort was made by the artificial culture that men 
of leisure had the opportunity to obtain, to prove that it 
was the divine will for a division of humanity into a 
ruling class and a serving class. When the American 
revolution suggested that a nation of people could be 
governed without a king, which current events have- 
proved, the simplest mind has natural reason enough to> 
discover that God or Nature (a “trust” not controlled 
by dollars) never authorized the establishing of a system 
of aristocracy or its degenerate imitation — a political 
system — supported by dollars and the disposition in 
man to get his living without earning it if possible. 
When natural law is recognized as the only medium by 
which God ever communicated with humanity, there 
would seem to be no reason why people could not enjoy 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 26 / 

wealth, culture, and even exclusive society without the 
necessity of oppressing the food producing people. 

When children grow to manhood and refuse to con¬ 
tinue the contracts their parents were trained to respect, 
there is no reason to disbelieve that the future will reveal 
events as startling as present events appear compared 
with the past. While it is mere speculation to antici¬ 
pate the future, the failures of the past have always been 
the lessons that the future profited by. To imitate the 
method of monarchial aristocracy to smother the growth 
of democracy is about as effective as to try to put out a 
fire by trying to smother it with combustible material. 
The babe reflects the purpose of God more.distinctly 
than the average graduate of college or academy. 

There are two distinct sources by which the origin of 
anything is impressed upon the individual mind. The 
first is natural and second is literal. That the natural 
was prior to the literal proves that no authority exists- 
that can control its source in disregard of God’s power. 
Hence the supernatural that depends upon a literal 
method of revelation is a secondary process of the means 
of expression. While even this writing is an evidence 
that a third person can and doubtless will dispute it, no 
person without denying his own personality can deny the 
fact that existence itself reveals without any suggestion, 
even from this writing, that is, no person can show that 
literal authority is superior as evidence to that which is 
revealed in the first person.when his very presence in 
denial of it, is not a mistake but positive proof that he 
lies. Again, to make it perfectly clear, what Nature 
reveals to the individual no human power in the second 
person can rob him of by any process thnt art has ever 


268 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


developed. Christ could not be prevented from being a 
personal example, and whatever effort men have made 
to deny Him literally either in the second or third per¬ 
son, not a line of literature was ever conveyed in the 
first person, a privilege that God and Nature, a “trust” 
of too long standing to try to break, has always been 
maintained for the protection of entire humanity. 

History reveals evidence beyond successful dispute, 
that the crucifixion of Christ bears witness that God 
coaid not trust his own image with divine authority over 
others of like image. He revealed Himself therefore to 
individual man, and the revelation is so sacred that no 
form of language has ever been invented to transmit the 
revelation except by reflection such as literature, pictures 
or any method of expression that the mind suggests. 
The individual thinks in the first person before he has 
the slightest idea of letters or any trained method of ex¬ 
pression. He is also a student of science and becomes 
a linguist of distinction before he can distinguish a from 
b. The child becomes a graduate in ethology before it 
can even read, and no sign appears of even a disposition 
to depravity until he is taught that his brief period of 
exclusive communion with his Creator is to be super¬ 
seded by his surroundings in the form of temptation to 
attract his growth. 

The first discovery the individual makes is his liberty; 
his tenure of command is derived from the Almighty, 
and no one questions his authority, for his orders are 
promptly obeyed. The labor of love was also a tenure 
from the Almighty, to cheerfully obey the commands of 
the individual in its early infancy. The origin of lan¬ 
guage is traced with great care by examining all the 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 269 

signs and characters that art reveals, but the natural 
man and little democrat, also a Christian by the rule of 
faith that Christ gave evidence of, does not have to study 
philology before he can make his mother understand or 
be able to understand her. It can be called natural 
language, but art never found a more perfect model. 
There is not a straw for art to stand upon in its attempt 
to find a prior revelation of any superior character to 
justify aristocracy in its effort to compel the involuntary 
service of democrats either directly or indirectly. 

The principle of influence is quickly observed by a 
parent, and anxiety for the child is equally as dangerous 
to the parent as the child. The poor are more success¬ 
ful in rearing children, because Nature is always cheaper 
than art and more successful. The reason why art is 
not abandoned is for the purpose of growth that depends 
upon attraction. It is a human necessity to have play¬ 
things as well after maturity as before. With all the 
natural intelligence that the individual possesses however, 
there is no reason why a man should be consumed in 
the fire because he has discovered a method to produce 
it. There is plenty of evidence that humanity possesses 
more knowledge than courage, particularly when all 
methods of instruction are more devoted to commercial¬ 
ism than any effort to inspire confidence in the individual. 
An obedience to God is taught to men that His laws are 
only discovered through the medium of art. It shows 
more necessity for inspiring courage than to teach 
the literal reflection of Nature, that the individual 
is already in possession of from the very source that the 
privilege of art is derived. That every individual is not 
in possession of all the possibilities of Nature without 


2 JO 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


human instruction is equally true of art. Liberty, 
morality, and education are principles bestowed upon the 
individual through the channels of Nature, but society 
introduces the feature of influence when art is a temp¬ 
tation to inspire growth. Hence honest competition is 
a merit until the superior ability is employed to deprive 
the weaker section of humanity of an opportunity. It 
is only in attraction and temptation, however, that art 
can appear in the moral atmosphere of Nature. It is 
quite obvious that the fear of publicity of American 
aristocracy — practically the political system — is de¬ 
cidedly greater than in the original system in Europe, 
for the influence of debauchery in the United States 
has a more direct influence upon the workman. It is 
idle to teach monarchial principles in this country in a 
direct manner, hence any deceit or secret method of 
withholding the facts from the public is more an ad¬ 
mission of guilt than any possibility of preventing pub¬ 
licity. It is often declared that honest men should 
endeavor to purify the political system. It is the system 
that makes corruption possible that is at fault rather 
than the personal management. A man is not necessa¬ 
rily dishonest because he is connected with a system 
that depends upon secrecy for its protection. The sat- 
elites and subordinates are not trusted with the secrets 
of the star-chamber. Men who are not ignorant of the 
deceit of the system are ruled in fear of being deprived 
of their station in society and corresponding luxury of 
existence. Methods of expression constitute a frater¬ 
nity of rank that excludes the recognition of appeal that 
even the government is forced to deny the common 
people. Nature is defied by its own reflection, and the 


TI1E DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


271 


potency of dollars is relied upon to prevent democracy 
from uniting against the corruption of monarchial influ¬ 
ence. Men try to believe that the excellence of art will 
either attract or frighten natural man. It is only in 
•complete ignorance of art, however, that the individual 
is strictly in accord with Nature; the only ethical training 
one gets that he can depend upon to resist temptation is 
what he gets from the Creator. It is a dialogue of the 
mind that no art can, penetrate or prevent. It is the 
individual musing that nothing but reciprocal methods of 
expression can reflect from one mind to another. No 
excellence of artificial language can compare with the 
origin of language, which is as unapproachable as the 
sense of sight. The very attempt even to use the gift 
of God to control the same privilege that may reasonably 
be supposed to exist in another, is more authority than 
even a parent can successfully exercise over a child. 
Education is limited to influence and the public exposure 
of the deceptive attractions of the superficial. 

Man is God in miniature, because he is in possession 
of the individual means of communicating direct that 
no other individual can deprive him of. This principle 
does not depend upon teaching, any more than the taste 
of sugar or the pain derived from embracing fire. Lit¬ 
eral authority at variance with its source betrays a 
motive, and when the motive is hidden by skillful manip¬ 
ulation of the relative character of words is a usurpation 
of power to compel a servile obedience which deprives 
another of a prior authority derived from God. Multi¬ 
tudes of words have been added to written language to 
make expression difficult. It betrays a purpose equally 
as designing as the effort of slave owners to justify their 


272 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


system of oppression. Crude expression is not only 
haughtily repulsed but it is taught ,in public schools- 
that excellence of utterance is the only method of escape 
from menial labor. It is quite as noticable in design as- 
chattel slavery, and the arrogant manner of chaffing the 
crudeness of expression, while the privilege to exist upon 
the labor of others is defended with such excellence of 
utterance as to awe the natural man and silence the least 
attempt at crude appeals for justice. Natural man, how¬ 
ever, is protected by the eternal force of the crude in 
silent action which existed before and after the super¬ 
ficial parade of excellence steeped in habits of debauch¬ 
ery passes on to decay. The corruption in high places 
protected by the political system that profits by the 
alliance with fraud is exposed in the daily papers that 
are protected against libel by the truth they reveal. 
The silent storehouse of democracy is being rapidly 
filled, and method of expression will possess no value 
against the united voice of the food producing people. 
History records “ the course of human events,” and 
every period of remarkable events discloses the progress- 
of democracy and the humiliation of aristocracy. It 
would be as profitable to study past events as to con¬ 
tinue to cultivate the excellence of expression as a 
means to the same end that aristocracy as a system de¬ 
pends upcn. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


273 


CHAPTER XXVI. 

I T would seem that educators would at least give some 
attention to the economy of education, if they are 
sincere in striving to improve humanity. When 
natural man reaches a point of ability that enables him 
to read, he becomes a factor in human affairs that bids 
fair to be interesting at least. It is too presumptuous 
for any one to believe that entire humanity could be 
accommodated in the highest story of art. It would 
seem that temptations were plenty enough without en¬ 
couraging an addition for the mere commercial benefit 
derived from the business of teaching. 

The greedy desire for profit in the handling of mer¬ 
chandise and the effort to induce purchasers, with no* 
regard for the truth, 'could be condoned in comparison 
to the same effort being exerted to encourage the pur¬ 
chase of education as a legitimate method of gaining a. 
livelihood for the educator. When a teacher, laboring 
for a mere pittance, will encourage a pupil to greater ex¬ 
ertion by announcing that positions are waiting for 
graduates from his school, at salaries double what he is 
receiving himself, his own example would seem too con¬ 
spicuous to be true. The details of the present educa¬ 
tional mania can be found in the daily papers, and from 
appearances they are not passed over as matters of little 
importance. 


274 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


This writing is a mere individual observation with no 
purpose of impertinence toward those who would un¬ 
doubtedly take exception to it. It is so related to the 
present social disorder, and the decided effort to imitate 
monarchial manners and customs, that it would seem like 
an effort to convert the entire democratic masses to 
either embrace aristocracy or acknowledge a servile 
obedience scarcely less than the extinct methods of 
slavery. The principle of education is not involved in 
the effort to teach specifically by the compulsory power 
of the State to enforce obedience. That feature has a 
direct reflection upon the spirit of revolt against England 
that made the United States an established fact. If the 
people have so degenerated after a progressive career of 
a hundred and twenty-five years, to require compulsory 
instruction that a political system devoted to monarchial 
customs has entire control of, the country is rapidly de¬ 
parting from the fundamental principles it was founded 
upon. 

If the will of the people is tampered with for the 
benefit of its representatives, the government takes on 
all the faults of a monarchy, even if the officials can 
succeed in convincing the people at large that it is for 
the general welfare. That ignorance can be taken ad¬ 
vantage of is revealed in history, and when a device of 
education appears with a compulsory feature that the 
power of a popular government is required to enforce, 
it is equivalent to a declaration that representatives are 
better qualified to determine what the people want than 
they themselves. To betray a trust is of such frequent 
occurrence at the present time by men of not only great 
scholarly ability, but also those prominent in society, it 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


275 


would suggest the question : in whom can we trust ? The 
mere excuse that it is human to err is a poor excuse for 
a man to make in trying to explain why he takes ad¬ 
vantage of his position to deceive the people who elected 
hum to office, while he gives evidence of being faithful 
to his own interest. It shows that he has the faculty of 
faithfulness, and when he does err he displays sufficient 
ability to look out for himself. Now if the power of 
•education is so advantageous as to enable a person to 
get his living by wit and deception, it would seem very 
improbable that he would approve a system of education 
that vvould be likely to expose him. Secret methods are 
always suspicious methods, and when a strong alliance 
exists between the educational and political systems that 
necessitates star-chamber exclusiveness to determine, it 
is certainly not for the benefit of the common people. 

Monarchial aristocracy in its effort to justify slavery, 
that is declared to be extinct, was more honorable in 
openly defending a right to property in man than the 
political-educational alliance that pretends to enlighten 
the people while they are secretly scheming to deceive 
them. While chattel slavery is a failure, and practically 
admitted by the principal nations, the disposition in man 
to gain a livelihood by the more “excellent” method 
than performing any menial labor is )ust as prominent as 
it was in the middle ages. 

Now education is advertised to perform what it never 
performs, and the very fact that the superficial is pointed 
to as being the result of education is precisely the same 
argument the slave holders made when they pointed to 
the improved condition of the slave over what he was 
in the aboriginal state. Slavery and compulsory training 


276 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

may be the means to an end, that a close study of Na¬ 
ture often exhibits but it fails to show any charity in 
man more prominent than to beguile the multitude that it 
may the more surely be oppressed. With charity toward 
people who appear to be sincere in the display of their 
trained ability, it would seem possible to shackle a man 
to the post of specific education as the chattel slave was- 
chained to involuntary servitude. If a man can be com¬ 
pelled to submit to such education as a republican form 
of government is in turn compelled to enforce by a cor¬ 
rupt political system, that in turn is controlled by the 
dollars that are made by fooling the people, the political 
system had better be relieved of its responsibilities. 
When the institution of chattel slavery became so in¬ 
human as to breed slaves for profit, people with a particle 
of human nature proclaimed against it. Yet children in 
the public schools are made merchandise of for profit, 
prompted by the same greed and disposition in man to 
monopolize whatever he becomes engaged in. 

A government that is obviously necessary to protect 
one man against the greed of another is an abettor to 
monopoly when it assumes the role of instructor in ad¬ 
dition to that of protector. With the government in 
complete control of a political system that was organized 
for the sole purpose of protecting slavery against the 
voice (votes) of the common people who were feared by 
reason of their ignorance of selfgovernment, it shows 
the motive for instructing the children specifically. The 
Constitution is being defied in like manner as when a mi¬ 
nority rebelled against the inauguration of Lincoln by a 
large majority. The Constitution distinctly recognizes 
the freedom of religion and the equal privileges of citi- 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


2 77 


zens in the several States. It does not specify education 
when it says “ Congress shall make no law respecting an 
establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise 
thereof,” but a State law that not only evades the letter 
of the Constitution but defies it in the mere quibbling 
with words has a hidden purpose. It is significant when 
it is noticed that a political system is the controlling in¬ 
fluence that regulates what shall be taught in the public 
schools 

A system that involved the nation in civil war is far 
from a principle of virtue, such as it claims, acting for 
the public good. An engineer that wrecks a train by 
assuming sovereign authority is discharged and publicly 
exposed, but a political system will not recognize the 
government other than a subordinate, while the people 
are defied because they lack the artificial ability of de¬ 
fence. Education, however, is a two-edged sword, and 
a very dangerous principle for a political system to play 
with. 

The rudiment of education — learning to read — is 
sufficient to enable a pupil to read history; but when 
politics and sectarianism are taught and children are 
compelled by law to attend school, the effort to bias the 
natural ability of the child is apparent. Besides social 
rank embraces the principle of aristocracy, and to dis¬ 
guise compulsory education by calling it patriotism, is 
equally as pretentious as a party of politicians calling 
themselves democrats while they were seeking to justify 
human slavery. The merit of education is not involved 
in taking exceptions to the compulsory system, for the 
reason that compulsion gives it a specific character, 
Education, religion, and liberty are inherent principles ; 


278 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

they are no more the result of any system of teaching' 
than the privilege to breathe. The teaching of sectari¬ 
anism is analogous to specific education, or pretending' 
to teach patriotism. A babe, even, does not have to be 
taught that sugar is sweet, and if what is meant by 
teaching patriotism is obedience to a specific class of 
society who, by their own fiat declare themselves to be 
the ruling class, it becomes interesting to people who 
can read history. At what period of the world’s exist¬ 
ence did the people neglect the love for their country as 
a natural law, and elect themselves to serve artificial 
patriotism, or the love to serve a ruling class ? Even a 
horse gives evidence of preferring his liberty to being 
harnessed. Is a human being less than an animal be¬ 
cause he discovered the magic of art and the power it 
gave him to oppress his kind ? The most skilful in art 
have flashed their power in the eyes of the timid, and 
would seek to control a government and deny a common 
privilege to the wonders of art because late arrivals were 
ignorant of its magic power. While older nations have 
failed to demonstrate that a privileged class can command 
explicit obedience from the more natural or humble 
class, what encouragement can the wisdom of the pres¬ 
ent receive from the “ signs ? ” 

The system of compulsory training so popular at 
present among the class that derive their support from 
the labor of others is no new device to destroy the 
natural faculties that are inherent in man. There is no 
evidence that art has ever produced the equal of its 
model, but the effort to reach such a result is very evi¬ 
dent. The individual is informed what his natural fac¬ 
ulties are by inherent conception. The relation between 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 2 jq 

himself and his surroundings he is never indebted to 
prior to his natural ability to discover them. His right 
of. choice in the realm of art constitutes his free will 
He is not responsible for' whatever obstructions are 
placed in his way. If the parents, influence wins the 
confidence of the child, it will obey the influence more 
readily than any artificial attraction. Hence the choice 
of a child is confined to the realm of art. His natural 
faculties are the guardian of his choice, and warn him of 
danger, and punish severely for any disregard of the 
warning. 

If adults disregard the warning of Nature after hav¬ 
ing access to books and a greater experience, a child 
should not be too severely dealt with for trying to pre¬ 
serve its natural integrity. If Nature or the Creator ever 
punished a child for acting natural, while the same power 
rewarded a man with special privileges because he 
reached a degree of excellence in art, human responsibil¬ 
ity is a myth. The effort to train a child by any com¬ 
pulsory process for a purpose that the child nor its par¬ 
ents have no choice in, is as cruel as the most infamous 
act that history records against man. If a man has be¬ 
come so trained himself as to have lost all respect for 
the superiority of Nature over art, it would be his indi¬ 
vidual privilege to admit he was a victim of his training 
and irresponsible for his acts. 

When the glaring progress of the United States sheds 
the light of hope to the oppressed in every corner of the 
globe, and the most autocratic nations are compelled to 
modify their tyrannical systems, is it possible for a system 
of training to be forced upon the rising generation that 
practically embraces the very principles that monarchies 


280 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


could possibly rest upon ? — a ruling class — or what is 
the same in relation to a government—a political system 
as corrupt as any aristocratic system in Europe. 

Compulsory education of a secular character is a very 
modern invention, and while the principle of education 
will no more change than the principle of religion, spe¬ 
cific education, like sectarian religion is as un-American 
as to try to establish a titled nobility to protect the 
ignorant voter from destroying free institutions. It was 
after the civil war that States took control of education. 
Previous to that event districts controlled their school 
system. It had the effect of rearing patriots enough 
to enforce the principle of majority rule and counteract 
the influence of John Adams politics. It would seem, 
therefore, that results were decidedly in favor of dis¬ 
trict schools rather than confiding the children’s welfare 
to a system that plunged the nation into war. Prosper¬ 
ity inspires greed and the desire for luxury. It is the 
reflection of history, and it is very important for men 
who have any just regard for human rights as being su¬ 
perior to personal greed, to observe the drifting toward 
monarchial customs and the effort to imitate the de¬ 
bauchery of aristocratic society. The representatives 
of the people not only enact compulsory laws to enforce 
a specific education, but have established an expensive 
system at quite four times the cost previous to the war, 
for the apparent purpose of supporting the rapidly in¬ 
creasing product of colleges and academies. 

One has only to observe what torture a cultivated 
person will endure before being obliged by hunger to 
perform menial labor. Crime and prostitution are en¬ 
couraged by the flaming prospects of obtaining a living 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


28l 


without drudgery. If these observations are mere 
fiction, it is the privilege of anyone to disprove them; 
but there is some object other than the mere cultivating 
■of patriotism, for no one could be so blind as to claim 
that culture entitles a person to a living without earn¬ 
ing it. 

It is an undoubted privilege for anyone to improve 
himself either in wealth or culture, or seek excellence 
in whatever pursuit in life he may choose, but a govern¬ 
ment that statesmen claim to be an example for auto¬ 
cratic systems to emulate, will not deceive the humble 
toiler while the ultra cultured treats him with scorn. 
People who are entirely devoted to satisfying their own 
desires will take no heed to “signs’’ or warnings if his¬ 
tory is any evidence, and if people can defy the future, 
the past should be respected enough to study its warn¬ 
ings. The mere assuming the name democrat will not 
entitle a person to the protective power of Nature while 
he persists in defying her laws. It is for the individual 
to settle such conditions himself, for a person who will 
continue to exist upon the toil of another will not even 
suggest any system that would endanger his source of 
supplies. No one could believe that a government had 
reached a condition to be emulated when it was controlled 
by a political system formed for the purpose of protect¬ 
ing private interests against the possibility of a majority 
voting against such interests. 

Simplicity is a principle that is studiously avoided in 
the artificial system of education as a general principle. 
Improvements in elementary methods are of minor im¬ 
portance to the disguised object of the State, in depriv¬ 
ing parents and local sections of educational privileges 


282 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


that were enjoyed under the encouraging influence of 
the Declaration of Independence. It is a common re- 
mark of professional men that their superior knowledge- 
entities them to deceive those of weak understanding,, 
when in their judgment it would be a benefit to the 
weakling. Plenty of written authorities can be found 
to justify such a privilege. If natural faculties were 
apparently exhausted, artificial means of any character 
would be excusable in assisting a person to recover, but 
to assume a right to deceive natural man is precisely 
what the principle of aristocracy is founded upon. 
Hence simplicity and a pretended economy of education 
is all precept, while the practice is as extravagant as the 
greed of man will permit him to exercise. School re¬ 
ports are made as a matter of legal requirement, but in 
such a manner as to deceive the food producer who is- 
encouraged to believe that his children give every evi¬ 
dence of learning enough to at least become a stock 
broker or a successful politician. 

It would be a simp’e matter to explain to the natural 
man what the real conditions are, but he is rapidly learn¬ 
ing from the magazines and papers what he stores up in 
silence. If the deception is to be continued much 
longer, it would be well to bear in mind that classic 
authorities cannot be depended upon to oppress modern 
laborers in like manner as the ancients were. An aris¬ 
tocracy of culture will assume the same privileges that 
were obtained by favor of kings if the present social 
debauchery in the United States is worth anything for 
evidence. The effort of the cultured class to deceive 
the common people should be studied with some care, 
for they may be sadly deceived themselves when they 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 283 

realize they overrate their own knowledge and underrate 
the knowledge of the common people. 

It is quite evident that the progress of the world is 
destined to move in different channels than what the 
sages of classical literature predicted. They would not 
have written so boastfully if they had even dreamed 
their ignorance would ever be exposed to the very class 
of humanity they were freely calling “slaves” and the 
“dependent class.” Our present educators who are 
striving to hide their own ignorance are possibly as inno¬ 
cent as their predecessors were. Such literature would 
never have been styled classical, however, if the old 
sages had even dreamed of the possibility of entire hu¬ 
manity ever learning to read. When a person can read 
he will read whatever he picks up, regardless of all the 
effort made to instruct him in what he should read. 
Hence he becomes surprised himself, how simple it is to 
get all the education he can utilize, and as much as he 
chooses for amusement. He also reads classical books 
and laughs at their stupidity in like manner as the 
British officers were laughed at when Cornwallis surren¬ 
dered, and the officers would salute the French officers 
and disdain to show the same courtesy to the American 
officers who were not sufficiently cultured to appreciate 
such refined attention. They had natural wit enough, 
however, to smile, and the same smile is a traditional 
inheritance of the past that will greet all efforts to es¬ 
tablish a permanent aristocracy of culture in America. 
Civilization moves slowly at times, but there is no evi¬ 
dence of its ever moving backward. 

Education in the United States is as free as air or 
water, and the people will not submit continually to- 


284 TRE degeneracy of aristocracy. 

compulsory education of a specific character any more 
than they would submit to the institution of slavery. 
Excellence of culture is just as much a privilege as' 
excellence of dress or any artificial effort. But excel¬ 
lence that is dependent upon human oppression, and de¬ 
ficient in morality, will meet the same destruction that is 
historically revealed of the past. 

The effort to use the government to support an aris¬ 
tocracy will expose the relation of the political system 
toward the people. A direct expression of the people 
upon any measure of common interest is what they ex¬ 
pected when the government was founded, and they will 
take it just as soon as they understand what the situ¬ 
ation is. To hold democracy in a condition of servitude 
developed classical literature that has deceived the stu¬ 
dent element of America fully as much as they in turn 
give evidence of trying to deceive the common or humble 
people. A close study of Nature would reveal the va¬ 
garies of classical literature, not but what the books 
contain evidence of great mental development, but the 
object for which they were written the United States has 
proved to*be a failure. It is very difficult to convince 
anyone that he is supporting an evil while he is in re¬ 
ceipt of a profit for supporting it. Nature, however, is 
so closely connected with Supreme authority that no 
human being has been able to prove any point of sepa¬ 
ration. Hence, classic literature or the sages of classical 
fame did not establish any authority superior to what 
the Almighty bestowed upon natural man. It destroys 
every straw that aristocracy ever rested upon. There is 
no evidence of any connection between Nature and art 
other than classical authority. Art was bestowed upon 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


285 


man to exercise his free will, and if it was not jointly, 
surely no individual could be held responsible if another 
individual was authorized to direct his choice. Spiritual 
Nature and physical Nature are in such close relation 
that classical art never succeeded in separating them. 


CHAPTER XXVII. 


T HE relation of natural man to human affairs has no 
parallel in the most excellent product of art. That 
this principle is well understood by the scholars of 
the world, both literature and history are ample evidence. 
This writing is not for the purpose of adding more proof 
to what every individual knows and acknowledges by the 
exhibition of his own existence. But the relation of nat¬ 
ural man to society introduces a subject of contention 
that wars have not settled up to the present time. All 
contentions have been directed either directly against 
natural man, or between the artificially cultured them¬ 
selves, to determine who possesses authority to control 
the man whose only deficiency is an ignorance of art, 
with all its intricate subtlety that the principle presents. 
Nature, however, shows no restriction upon the principle 
of free will. The natural man with no knowledge of art, 
and awed by his artificial surroundings defends himself 
with what physical force he can command. He is often- 
surprised by his success because of his ignorance of the' 


286 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


weakness of art compared with natural ability. The 
sense of fear will influence him to escape from danger 
rather than meet it, and the study of natural man by his 
own inherent power and ability to observe others is the 
first lesson one gets in the science of ethology. 

If a man is at all interested in his duty toward others, 
he would study the great care that Nature exerts in pro¬ 
tecting natural man against the power of art, while she 
encourages him to exercise his free will in making dis¬ 
coveries that he soon learns is just as much his privilege 
as any other. 

A man who becomes so interested in art as to either 
forget or defy his first lessons direct from the Creator is 
merely exercising the same free will that enabled him to 
stand up and walk. If he chooses authorities that appear 
to be more excellent, and cultivates his desire for the 
artificial, until he becomes convinced that Nature is 
“ vulgar ” in comparison to the luxury that art reveals, 
he has betrayed the confidence his Creator reposed in 
him. The luxuries of art could have been obtained with¬ 
out seeking to exercise authority over natural man, 
who was no less deficient in artificial knowledge than 
himself at his advent upon earth. 

After a man submits to artificial authority he must 
necessarily deny the superior authority that even art it¬ 
self was dependent upon. Besides, the man who scorns 
his birthright and acknowledges human authority him¬ 
self, will assume authority over whoever he can com¬ 
pel or frighten into a condition of subjection. No 
circumstance can be shown, however, where the individ¬ 
ual can be compelled to abandon his original authority. 
The spirit of evil may attract him, for free will would be 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


287 


a myth in the absence of temptation or some objects to 
choose from. 

If the man of artificial culture feels pity for natural 
man who gives no evidence of knowledge from his su¬ 
perficial appearance, he should sympathize with himself 
for all the superior culture he Can possibly obtain is 
strictly superficial. Hence, if the superficial bears such 
a relation to human affairs, a migration to some barren 
island or an experience of a severe storm at sea, would 
speedily relieve a person of an opportunity to utilize 
what superficials he possessed, besides teaching him a 
lesson to put his. trust in original authorities. 

Human authority is balanced by the principle of de¬ 
fence, and no authority is more productive of civilizing 
results than that derived from the Supreme Being direct 
to the individual.' Literary authority is a subjointed 
collection of artificial authority derived from inherent 
communication direct to the individual.* Any other 
interpretation would deprive an individual of his free 
will and the principle of liberty would be smothered 
by fear in like manner to the fleeing of animals at the 
approach of another species giving evidence of superior 
strength. The teaching of obedience to any human 
authority is repulsive to the individual, and stirs him to 
anger when he knows he is in possession of liberty and 
free will. It is idle for any individual to overrule the 
authority of the Creator by the force of will that is 
as individual as man himself. Is there any evidence in 
history that individual man could be trusted with author¬ 
ity to exercise his will in preventing others from en¬ 
joying the same privilege ? 

Animals appear to be governed in society entirely by 


288 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


Nature, and will man continue to act with less consistency 
while he boasts of a knowledge of art and gives 
evidence of a free will by a continual effort to oppose 
his kind ? Will war ever cease if man continues to cul¬ 
tivate social ranks for the sole purpose of monopolizing" 
the principle of art that results prove to be the common 
inheritance of man? Where is the danger to general 
society when Nature keeps the earth so generously sup¬ 
plied with natural men who are so unwilling to war 
against their fellowmen, that they have to be forced into 
battle at the point of a bayonet to protect a class system 
of society ? 

Has not the food producing class any right to complain 
when they know enough to read, and can also smile at 
being asked if they understand what the situation is ? 1 
Did the Israelites succeed in maintaining their claim to- 
being a “ chosen people ? ” Besides, a long line of “ civ¬ 
ilized ” nations have warred with each other for the 
control of natural man, yet he comes out of the frav 
with less damage than his aristocratic “task masters.” 

The only danger that anyone has need to fear is the 
power of God. It would seem that he had given 
“ signs ” enough to warn any considerable group of 
cultured Americans that it will be impossible to control 
a government by an alliance with deception when a large 
majority of subjects, called “citizens,” can read their 
daily paper. Natural man is always a democrat, and 
also a citizen of the world (what the earth is termed in 
classical literature) but in the United States the adult 
natural man is subject to indignities of a like character 
that the American officers were subject to at the surren¬ 
der of Cornwallis, because they were not sufficiently 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


289 


polished to understand the courtesy extended to the 
French. It is traditional, however, that they smiled. 
The greatest danger at present would seem to be in try¬ 
ing to believe that voters are so lacking in knowledge 
that they could be convinced that it was for their inter¬ 
est to support an aristocracy of culture with the delusion 
that entire humanity, by the magic of art, could be 
elevated to a height out of reach of any necessity for 
either food or raiment. 

It is one of the impossibilities of life to determine 
how much knowledge a man possesses before he is heard 
from, and even then caution would be advisable, for arti¬ 
ficial methods of expression are very deceptive, which 
the average politician could attest. The terms natural 
man and cultured man are used in this writing as a means 
to show democracy and aristocracy in a different light ; 
it should be observed also, that a too frequent explana¬ 
tion of the use of terms casts a reflection upon the 
intelligence of a possible reader. But this writing is for 
the purpose of being understood by the victims of 
cultured man who are the credulous men too often de¬ 
ceived by the polish of terms which are empty expres¬ 
sions to attract the substance of the natural man. No¬ 
doctor would betray his knowledge of the relation of: 
Nature to art by parading in the presence of his peers 
a disregard for the law of Nature. Hence cultured man 
should have as much respect for natural man as the doc¬ 
tor, with his art, has for Nature itself. 

It is immaterial how old a person is when his courage 
is sufficiently braced to disconnect himself from the cash 
down system of Nature to the credit system of art A 
fond parent is often too negligent of the child, and more 


290 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


anxious to see her “darling” go through life arrayed in 
polished manners rather than exhibiting any selfsustain- 
ing support, when he would become a nonentity so far 
as human progress is concerned. It is quite natural for 
youth to be anxious to “paddle their own.canoe ” at too 
early a period. It proves that Nature’s free school is 
for a purpose to guide both the parent and the child. It 
is well to note also, that what is called natural depravity 
by designing authorities, is a healthy ambition to exercise 
the principle of free will which civilization is as depend¬ 
ent upon as vegetable life is upon sunlight. A child 
that exhibits a spirit of willfulness reflects a possible 
future that parents can enjoy as well as the child, pro¬ 
viding the free schools of Nature are respected as the 
origin of education rather than being misdirected by the 
school of art. The brightest children however, are in 
more danger of having their future beaten out of them 
than beaten into them. Any compulsory authority is a 
doubtful expediency, and only warrantable from previous 
neglect, when the person responsible for the neglect is 
more deserving of the punishment than the child. 

When Nature imparts a degree of free will she trans¬ 
fers a like degree of responsibility, which is always the 
companion of free will. Nature, however, is too careful 
of her choicest product, not to safeguard the child and 
man both, by instilling into the mind a sense of fear. 
Hence it would seem difficult to charge Nature with any 
neglect for declining to be responsible for a free will 
that would not only retard the progress of the child but 
also the progress of entire humanity. 

Jacob could not make Esau responsible for the acts 
that the patrimony of the house of Israel involved, it is 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


291 


therefore important to observe that whoever is unduly 
influenced to surrender his birthright, the responsibility 
rests with the authority. That little story has a great 
bearing upon human affairs, if it was studied as only an 
individual can study it. No individual can be justly held 
responsible for an act in the absence of a knowledge of 
the character of the act, classical literature to the con¬ 
trary notwithstanding. Man’s responsibility ceases 
when the individual compact between himself and Nature 
is dissolved. It is reasonably so, at least, when no re¬ 
sponsibility previous to his advent could possibly be 
charged against him. It is no stretch of imagination to 
say, that prior to the exercise of a free will, the individ¬ 
ual is equally as irresponsible as when complete dissolu¬ 
tion occurs. Hence for a person who subscribes voluntari¬ 
ly, or contracts to submit to any specific authority dictated 
by others who are equally as dependent upon the origin 
of existence, it would be a breach of contract to exercise 
his free will upon any matter embraced in the contract. 
While such a person having due respect to God and man 
both, sincerely adheres to the letter of contract can no 
doubt be recognized as a worthy man and enjoy the 
luxury of living. He becomes lost in the multitude and 
privileged to persuade others to follow his example, but 
at one point he will make a serious mistake if he connects 
himself with any enterprise or system to usurp the pow¬ 
er of a government to compel others to surrender their 
birthright, that he was privileged to do voluntarily. 
Nothing in the Bible or all history reveals a more infa¬ 
mous act of man, for while a man possessed of a free 
will can dispose of himself, even to the extent of com¬ 
mitting suicide, but when he commits a crime of worse 


292 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


than murder, by consigning his victim to practically a 
living death, he escapes legal punishment. While the 
taskmaster and tyrant is exempt from legal punishment, 
it is doubtful if any punishment can be more severe than 
his own knowledge of his act. The principle of regen- 
eracy is no doubt possible after man abuses his liberty, 
but applied to the effort to deprive a man of his free 
will, it merely betrays an effort to justify a privileged 
class of society. 

The federation of the thirteen democratic States into a 
compact union was skillfully conducted by John Adams 
when the little democracies were changed into a republic 
and forms were adopted in almost exact imitation of 
monarchial forms. John Adams had no superior in 
America as a classic scholar, and from such influence 
and the profit derived in the traffic of human beings, he 
no doubt held that natural man was only the equal of an 
animal, except the possibility of regenerating him. 
There is no doubt, when it is observed that he had con¬ 
tempt for Washington, and would have crowned himself 
in like manner to Napoleon but for the fear of the 
people, which was the only respect he had for 
them. 

The boldness of the present effort of classical scholars 
to build up an aristocracy of culture upon the same 
soil from which the very word aristocracy was summarily 
banished, has no parallel in history. Primitive aris¬ 
tocracy had a pretended authority superior to the will of 
man, and for a man or body of men to decree by their 
own fiat a superiority over what the political orators 
proclaim as “ fellow citizens,” because they are more 
“excellent” in culture will no doubt make the people 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


293 


smile, the same as the American officers smiled at the 
British at Yorktown. 

Now it would not be serious at all if a few people 
fraternized together and flattered themselves they were 
superior to whoever they chose to elect as inferiors, but 
it is a bold stroke, to capture the public schools and 
connive with the Adams political system and teach the 
very worst feature of aristocracy—that a cultured man 
can escape his responsibility to Nature. Even classical 
literature will show a respect for Nature. 

The inseparable connection between a monarch or an 
autocratic ruler with aristocracy seems to escape the 
notice of the most excellent cultured. How an aristoc¬ 
racy can resolve itself into an absolute ruling power 
while the present elective system is in vogue, would be 
interesting to have it explained. If the people can 
really be taught to believe that a luxurious existence can 
be obtained by the mere learning of manners and the 
classical system of rank, it will be more interesting than 
Christian Science. 

It is evident enough that a hidden motive exists, for 
nothing could be more contradictory than to encourage 
pupils to believe they can escape drudgery by a familiar 
knowledge of classical literature, and to offset any pos¬ 
sible danger of cultured man becoming too numerous 
to obtain profitable employment, it is asserted that a 
•cultured man can perform menial labor to enough better 
advantage after being cultured. The question would 
arise, whether he would, rather than what he could do. 
It is hardly possible that men who make a study of 
social problems can be so deceived as to believe that 
people can be continually encouraged to greater exertion 


294 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


by holding out such false hope of escaping the labor of 
drudgery in obtaining a living. That a government can 
exist upon a system of deception is as improbable as the 
existence of chattel slavery. It is even more aggra¬ 
vating to encourage a person with false hope than to 
deprive him of hope and compel him to serve at the will 
of a master. It could be seen that a chattel slave was 
far happier than a cultured man to seek employment of 
the humblest character to obtain the necessities of life 
while he is the observer of men with only natural skill,, 
earning with ease in an hour what he was obliged to 
work a whole day for. The victims are too proud to 
acknowledge their disappointed hopes that are betrayed 
in the sadness of their features. 

The perpetrators roll in luxury while their victims are 
dragging their lives out in seeking employment that they 
were told was eagerly awaiting their services. Theolog¬ 
ical students often write their laments in religious papers- 
over the wickedness of the people who give evidence of 
the need of spiritual consolation, while a salary would 
console them. Oh for dollars, is the prayer of the 
hungry, yet the earth is groaning to be cultivated, while 
man is groaning with culture that promised dollars with¬ 
out the necessity of earning them. It is much easier,, 
however, to keep out of the fire than to get out. Culture 
is not education in a strict sense; it is the polish of edu¬ 
cation that is craved for, a position of rank that stimu¬ 
lates the hope for dollars. 

Nature is a much more reliable source to look to for 
practical results than the deceptive principle of art. 
This nation grew rapidly upon the principles taught in 
the little “red school house,” when teachers taught the 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 295 

practical value of education and the danger of aristocratic 
attractions. Now culture has superseded education and 
the contempt for farming or mechanical labor is as 
noticeable in America as in Europe. At no period in 
the world’s history did aristocracy ever build its own foun¬ 
dation, while democracy rests upon a natural ioundation 
with strength enough to sustain itself and also- sustain 
its burden — aristocracy. Nature has never failed in 
protecting the foundation of humanity from being 
crushed with a greater weight than it could bear. This 
simile would suggest that culture and art were ob¬ 
jectionable features of human life, but to the contrary, 
however, for both Washington and Gladstone were nat¬ 
ural men, and also examples of education and culture of 
a high order. It would seem unnecessary to explain 
this feature farther, but it might seem paradoxical to 
some who may understand, that-whatever anyone dis¬ 
covers or learns of an artificial character with just 
regard to their origin is not only honorable but strictly 
correct. It is aristocratic culture with a motive of op¬ 
pression directed to their own origin that this writing is 
dealing with. It is the apparent attempt to justify a 
superior station at the expense of natural man, which is 
always a reflection of contempt against one’s own origin. 
Besides it is the deceptive character entirely controlled 
by a political system for the purpose of preventing 
democracy from discovering its natural rights rather 
than seeking to enlighten the masses. 

It is always the minority of any considerable group 
of people that constitute a possible aristocracy, and if 
compulsory education can be controlled by a political 
system, a united democracy would be very unpleasant 


296 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

for men who obtain a livelihood from the taxes that a 
State can not only enforce but also collect. This matter 
will be given more minute attention in another chapter. 

Classical reading can scarcely be called education, but 
it is wonderful as a method of culture. It encourages 
an ideal excellence that none but the wealthy can indulge 
in, for to the poor it is hope deferred, and too much of 
a lottery for any poor boy or girl to risk their future 
happiness in a scheme where there are a hundred blanks 
to one prize. The classics are pro-aristocratic, of an un¬ 
questioned excellence of a high order, but they were 
written in the interest of exclusive society. The very 
word “classic” signifies class, and supports the principle 
of aristocracy. It is no reading for the poor, for no 
entire nation could be individually supplied with dollars 
without being obliged to serve themselves, hence every¬ 
body would be poor. 

These old authorities are un-American, and like old 
tools they have outgrown their usefulness, and should 
be preserved as relics of the past, for better things have 
been discovered than the old writers ever dreamed of. 
Mankind is entitled as a whole to social peace and 
Christian fellowship that the study of class relations 
antagonize. It is also a disrespect for natural man, and 
all effort to exclude him from Christian fellowship, that 
Christ taught as a possibility, will continue to be de¬ 
ferred. Chattel slavery disappeared in spite of the 
brilliant efforts of John Adams, and why not admit that 
other forms of slavery are destined to disappear ? 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


297 


CHAPTER XXVIII. 

T HE word plutocracy is strictly an American word. 
It applies to a social system from which its exclu¬ 
sive privileges are based upon dollars. Previous 
to the advent of America, it was almost impossible to 
accumulate any considerable amount of money, unless 
one was connected with the aristocracy. Man is not so 
deficient in knowledge as the courage to assert himself; 
therefore the conditions in America offered the oppor¬ 
tunity that the early settlers even were quick to take 
advantage of. It shews that the latent power in man 
simply awaits an opportunity, hence it is the freedom to 
seek education that shows greater evidence of progress 
than any specific education that is advertised to be 
superior to the greed for dollars, yet dollars would be 
found to be the object of the deception. If it is under¬ 
stood that the word aristocracy is a term used to denote 
the superficial or whatever is acquired from art, the word 
plutocracy is but another word for aristocracy. If a 
knowledge of the classics is adopted by one group of 
society as constituting their exclusiveness frdm associ¬ 
ation with others of the human family, they have no 
monopoly of a mere word that is used to specify one part 
of humanity against the other part, the two parts includ¬ 
ing the whole. It is not necessary in considering the 



298 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


degeneracy of aristocracy to settle every personal con¬ 
tention of what particular acts of an individual consti¬ 
tute either aristocracy or democracy. 

It is every individual’s privilege to define the defini¬ 
tion of words to accommodate his personal interest, but 
he cannot hide his acts from whatever group of associ¬ 
ates he becomes a unit of. Any considerable number 
forming a social group can become so exclusive as to 
disguise their acts toward each other of the same group.. 
The imaginative power of fiction can penetrate the 
probability of their social conduct. The very object of 
exclusiveness would be destroyed, and also the personal 
interest of an individual who would have to deny the 
only object for which he would become a unit of any 
exclusive society. Hence, that any particular group can 
claim a monopoly to the classic term “aristocracy” is a. 
usurpation that the classic writers themselves would not 
have recognized, which their writings bear evidence. If 
an English waiting maid should array herself in the 
finery of her mistress, it would not make her an aristo¬ 
crat, although in that disguise she might be called 
“lady” by her own companions even. 

In America, she would find some rank to gratify her 
desire for a recognition of being a privileged character. 
It is therefore a pedigree that a well kept record would’ 
attest that establishes the privilege of being an aristocrat.. 
Neither culture nor dollars could make an aristocrat pre¬ 
vious to the advent of the enterprising American. The 
very principle of liberty was perverted to mean that an- 
individual could command the service of people who- 
appeared equally as inferior as they were in Europe, by 
a mere commanding presence of any individual at the 



THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


299 


fiat of the will. No principle or theory is seriously con¬ 
sidered that interferes with one’s personal interest as a 
rule. For when a person becomes avaricious, or what is 
equally as dangerous, ambitious for popular attention, he 
will scorn any reproof or the warnings of Nature. He 
will run his course and perhaps appear to find what he 
seeks, bat the account he must render to the source 
from which he obtained his privileges may be rendered 
in a manner as silent as it was bestowed upon him. 
Dame Nature could no doubt exclaim at the final settle¬ 
ment of accounts, “you have had a glorious life so far 
as appearances go. Was it worth the punishment you 
have had to pay for it ? Do you think your victims 
suffered as much that you deprived of liberty that was 
no less theirs than what you claimed to be yours ? 
Would you not exchange your glorious life for the happy 
dreams of your victims ? ” 

While this sentiment is a slight digression, it seems 
to be called for when society is running mad for dollars 
or a life of public renown, when to tell the truth would 
sweep both dollars and renown from the man who spends- 
his life in hiding his wickedness. The question for the 
individual to answer to himself is, have you obtained 
your success in life at the expense of depriving anyone 
else of the same opportunity that you have appropriated 
to yourself? 

When the person of culture claims the exclusive priv¬ 
ilege of imitating the aristocratic privilege of Europe, 
the man of dollars has an equal claim to the privilege. 
“When thieves quarrel honest men get their dues” is 
an old adage. Hence when the privilege of culture is 
paraded as an exclusive privilege to imitate European 


300 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


aristocracy, the term applied to the man of dollars who 
competes for the prize, he is called a plutocrat in deris¬ 
ion of his attempt to be equally as oppressive as the 
craze for culture. The rivalry between culture and 
dollars bids fair to be a victory for dollars, as no army 
can exist, however cultured or well supplied with dollars, 
if the food supply gives out. Therefore it is well to 
observe that democracy holds the key to the present 
social condition. The word democracy offers no oppor¬ 
tunity for quibbling. The advent of America as a factor 
in the disputes of the world has developed conditions 
that practically confound old theories that were formu¬ 
lated with great care to compel the more natural of 
humanity to serve the artificially arrayed. The only 
exchange that could be offered was the principle of 
“redemption,” and to maintain the necessity of “re¬ 
demption ” man must be charged theoretically with 
making his appearance upon earth in sin to be regene¬ 
rated by the mercy of masters whom he was destined to 
serve that he might pass away from the earth entirely 
freed from the sin that was the price of his privilege to 
appear upon a scene that he had no power of his own to 
prevent. 

What men of profound scholarly ability have failed to 
agree upon in a doctrinal point of view, it would be idle 
for a natural man with the mere ability to read, to enter 
upon the arena of discussion. It is sufficient to observe 
that the masses are reading, and great numbers could 
doubtless attest that they feared to express their opinion 
for fear of ridicule, or the danger of being deprived of 
an opportunity of earning the necessities of life. The 
commonest social gatherings are hushed to a condition 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


301 


of pallor at the mere mention of independent ideas upon 
the universal inheritance of religion or moral rectitude 
instilled into the mind of every individual that appears 
upon the earth. 

But what is to be done with the silent reader of the 
Bible when he declares he is unable to discover anything 
to quarrel about ? That interpretations of the scriptures 
are dealt out in like manner to the rations dealt out to 
slaves, a mere fraction of what they produce, is laid 
aside as rapidly as the individual discovers he can settle 
the disputes of scholars by interpreting the Bible for 
himself. Interpretations of the scriptures are as obso¬ 
lete as classical literature. Social ostracism is rapidly 
disappearing in the vast privileges of travel when people 
of every shade and color mingle in harmony regardless 
of dogmatic opinions. One has no occasion to go to 
college or academy to learn good manners of a general 
character. Vulgarity is more noticeable in public places 
in America when strangers meet to observe any specific 
effort that calls attention to ones station in society. It 
is strictly un-American for a stranger to insist upon a 
priority of attention by reason of culture, title, or social 
standing. A voluntary recognition of the courtesy of 
priority is good manners compared with any personal 
effort to obtain such recognition. Exclusive arrange¬ 
ments are easily obtained for people who desire to travel 
privately, but equal rights in places that are supported 
at the public expense the average American is quite 
persistent in claiming. Hence the principle of culture 
as a means to classify people socially is an undoubted 
private right, but the effort to force such culture as an 
encouragement to obtain social standing at the public 


302 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


expense is very unjust toward those who cannot support 
their children during the period of cultivation. That 
the object is to encourage an American aristocracy is so 
clearly evident that it cannot long escape the notice of 
the general public who read their daily paper every day. 
When Christ could not convince the Pharisee that 
•culture was not a sign of moral rectitude, it is not so 
strange at the present time that even the most learned 
give evidence of more anxiety for their personal interest 
than the welfare of the people who are taxed to support 
it. When persons of considerable wealth, at least 
enough to furnish necessary supplies without performing 
any labor other than to breathe, deplore our demo:ratic 
system of government for taxing cultured people for 
trying to cultivate the “unwashed,” no one could justly 
claim that imitation aristocracy was not struggling for a 
foothold on American soil. There is no doubt but what 
many kindly disposed people who are proud of their 
diploma, that is the only certificate of rank that is per¬ 
mitted in the United States, would resent being called 
aristocratic. It would be easier to convince a natural 
man that could not even read, that he was a democrat, 
than to convince a person with the deed of privilege in 
his hand that he was an aristocrat by proxy at least. 
People give little trouble about where authorities come 
from that give them a privilege to be recognized by 
their peers to be superior to those who are dependent 
upon drudgery for their daily bread. It is claimed that 
our public schools are free, and everybody is privileged 
to get a diploma, but nobody believes it, for if everybody 
was aristocratic all would b2 democrats. -Will learned 
people be able to continue in deceiving the unlearned 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 303 

that the principle of temptation was a specific privilege 
to only those who could succeed in penetrating the magic 
■door? Is not the continual decline of aristocracy with 
its snobbery annex against the steady growth of democ¬ 
racy sufficient proof that democracy will win ? “ Fore¬ 

warned is forearmed ” is a homely adage, but it has done 
good service in the past. 

Genius is never taught, although it will absorb edu¬ 
cation as a sponge will absorb water, while culture is a 
positive embarrassment when embraced by the man of 
genius. Culture promotes ridicule, sarcasm, phraseol¬ 
ogy, and wit; it possesses no utility in the field of 
progress. It will recognize structural facts that betray 
its ignorance of any constructive qualities. Its merit is 
confined to social functions and the ability to obtain 
dollars. The educated clergyman can scarcely obtain a 
living in the absence of culture, while the cultured 
clergyman is always in demand at a good salary, even 
when the absence of education is remarkable. It does 
not follow, however, that both culture and education are 
not frequently combined. It merely shows that plutoc¬ 
racy will pay their dollars for culture while education 
goes begging. 

The progress of the United States is undoubtedly the 
result of education, but it should be observed that the 
early struggle to throw off the grip of aristocracy was 
remarkable for almost the entire absence of culture. If 
John Adams and a few others who could be classed as 
cultured, exercised their ability in the interest of the Col¬ 
onies, it is equally true that their culture availed nothing 
in their effort to crown Washington, and the only service 
that they are entitled credit for, was the establishing of 


304 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY, 


a political system that fastened the institution of slavery 
upon the country, that events have proved it could have 
been dispensed with earlier with profit to the country. 
Surely the events of the past could be reasonably stud¬ 
ied as reflecting the possibilities of the future. Task 
masters were equally as persistent fifty years ago as they 
are to day in claiming that democracy is dangerous un¬ 
less it is compelled to serve. If the food producing 
people could not be chained to serve, will it be more 
successful to expect they can be trained to serve by 
methods equally as tyrannical ? 

History is evidence of the potent power of genius, 
both mental and physical; its natural quality cannot be 
questioned, for that is what the word signifies. Its re¬ 
lation to culture and aristocracy makes a genius a dem¬ 
ocrat in the same sense that a natural man is one, and 
also embraces education as a principle to be sought 
rather than being a dependent .upon it. Hence aristoc¬ 
racy and its companion culture have no claim to pro¬ 
ductiveness in comparison to the original that genius 
develops. The presumptive authority of aristocracy 
exposes its deception in any attempt to subjugate genius 
which represents a man that knows what his ability is, 
who will not submit to any precedent that literal author¬ 
ity dictates. Whatever is strictly new or progressive is 
due to genius. It recognizes no priority in either mind 
or matter to the individual privilege of discovery. 

While events are recognized after they are practiced 
with success, such events are invariably treated previously 
with contempt by all persons, however learned, who are 
wedded to theories that any new principle destroys. 
The comparative opportunity that the advent of America 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


305 


gave to natural man is proved by results. Culture is 
bold, and claims everything in sight by the mere ability 
to quibble with words, and misrepresent written records 
even. There is plenty of evidence in history where in¬ 
ventors have been treated as emissaries of evil by the 
mere suggestion of any improvement in established 
customs. Genius works in secret as silent as the musing 
of the mind, not daring to reveal thoughts, for the 
reason that the least suggestion of an original idea is 
received with a sneer of contempt expressed: “ whoever 
heard of such an idea ? ” Children even are admonished 
by their parents to drive all “dreamy thoughts” out of 
their heads and give strict attention to their books, 
when they may hope to become as distinguished as 
some example of a man who gave no evidence of dis¬ 
tinction except his superficial display. The graveyards 
only, could they speak, would doubtless reveal that 
genius was smothered before it possessed the courage to 
assert itself. That every individual is a genius is more 
probable than that a devotee of culture will ever invent 
anything. The reason is, that whatever trait of charac¬ 
ter a person cultivates, that particular trait will control 
his action and also his estimate of others. It reflects 
upon the system of aristocracy and the effort to cultivate 
an imitation of the system by the support of a govern* 
ment that is proclaimed to be elective and to recognize 
every voter as having an individual voice in said govern¬ 
ment. No one can be a hypocrite without knowing it, 
hence it would be a waste of effort to call his attention 
to the fact directly, for he will not only deny it but 
resent the intrusion of his personal right to be whatever 
he chooses to be. It is early enough to offer assistance 


30 6 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


to a helpless individual after he realizes he needs it, but 
to cripple a child in its youth practically deprives him of 
becoming as great a genius as any who have succeeded. 
Whoever heard of a person being made a genius by 
cultivation ? It need not be denied or affirmed, but 
history fails to record such a phenomenon. It can be 
found in history without much difficulty, that men of 
genius who discovered hidden principles that have im¬ 
proved the conditions of mankind barely escaped with 
their lives, simply because they dared to defy “the 
powers that be”—the prerogative of a diploma. Edu¬ 
cation should not be confounded, however, with culture 
any more than a drunken man should be pointed to as a 
perfect type of manhood. Neither should good man¬ 
ners that recognize natural man as God’s work be mis¬ 
taken for culture that is directed in the interest of an 
imitation aristocracy. Because culture or the knowledge 
of distilling alcohol was discovered by the genius of 
man, it is no reason that one should become intoxicated 
with either privilege, or seek to compel others to adopt 
the system. It is a principle of observation that a child 
can be trained 01 cultivated to disregard his connection 
with Nature except in a vulgar sense as a means to a 
superior exaltation that is claimed to be the privilege of 
culture to authority over a natural man. It must also 
include genius, for the very contempt that culture dis¬ 
plays toward genius is proof enough of its naturalness. 
A parallel between an intoxicated person and one of 
culture is, according to the degree of excess, quite no¬ 
ticeable. They are different, however, in tenacity of 
purpose; although both are artificially illuminated, the 
drunken man can be reasoned with after he becomes 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


307 


sober, while culture has such a permanent effect that no 
opportunity of reasoning with its possessor ever occurs. 
This comparison should be considered as an attribute of 
man rather than any disrespect to his relation with 
Nature. It should also be borne in mind, if a genius is 
strictly dependent upon Nature, whatever is superficially 
acquired to illuminate the mind is an unnecessary evil, 
having no other object than to imitate European aristoc¬ 
racy. A drunken man could listen to a temperance 
lecture and insist that he was too cultivated to need any 
suggestion from a man who appeared not to know what 
he was talking about. 

Hence it is the system and not the individual victims 
who give evidence of being taught to resent any re¬ 
flection upon their prerogative as a personal infringe¬ 
ment. There is no feature of culture more cunningly 
taught than to treat people who are struggling with their 
natural privileges with a patronizing pity for their mis¬ 
fortune, and distantly reprove them for any display of 
independence. The effort to cultivate people to support 
an American aristocracy upon the basis of culture and 
dollars is upon the same plane with the rumseller who 
would seek to teach the illuminating quality of his goods 
for the profit of it. All classes of men who are devoted 
to obtaining a living by what they claim themselves to 
be “superior wit” will defend whatever method they 
chose to employ, and while the cultivator of imitation 
aristocracy and the rumseller will contend with each- 
other to determine which is the more honorable toward 
natural man, a division of the dollars obtained from 
honest labor will establish a secret friendship with the 
political system. It will establish a new principle, if 


308 the degeneracy of aristocracy. 

human beings can be trained to serve, since all efforts 
to compel them to have failed ; besides the object in both 
cases is the same. 

Culture in the absence of natural education never 
sees beyond the reflection of a polished mirror. Its only 
foundation is the hypothesis of natural depravity, while 
education is founded upon Nature, the bedrock from 
which a 1 ! knowledge is derived. 


CHAPTER XXIX. 

E VERY conceivable effort that man is capable of has 
been employed to justify his disposition to com¬ 
mand whatever or whoever appeared to be inferior. 
The art of literature has been employed to organize 
fraternal association to protect some exclusive object or 
theoretic principle. Such association is justifiable until 
the equity of Nature’s laws are defied. Human indi¬ 
viduality is thrust upon the earth by the million, and 
when no one is able to monopolize the power of imagi¬ 
nation beyond what he conceives to be his own, the 
sense of reason equally as individual as imagination 
should have respect for its source in preference to any 
other authority in his own image who would demand 
servile obedience by reason of a prior advent and more 
experience. The spirit of kindness or labor of love is 
a feature of humanity that is bestowed by Nature to 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


309 


protect the individual advent from his first fright at the 
discovery of his surroundings. “ Aboriginal ” society, as 
portrayed in histories that appear unbiased, give evi¬ 
dence of harmony that “civilized” society could profit 
by. Conditions of an artificial character are exactly 
what man makes them. Man’s privilege to exercise his 
free will in the realm of art, never included a license to 
injure himself or his neighbor. Literature is art, and 
from the evidence of history it has been more destructive 
of human happiness than any other instrument of war¬ 
fare. The privilege of the individual to discover, is only 
retarded by the sense of fear. The faculty of imag¬ 
ination is what encourages one to persevere in defiance 
of literal authority or the opposition of his surroundings. 
It is safe to claim that more people have been frightened 
to death than were ever slain'in battle. One has only 
to study history and determine whether man has met 
with any success in his persistent effort to monopolize 
art. He has classified and specified art in literature, and 
tried by every means known, to prevent natural man 
from exercising his natural faculties, but instead to pre¬ 
scribe rules with the purpose to prevent rather than to 
encourage discovery. 

No circumstance occurs that shows Nature to be a 
servant of man ; after giving him the tools to help himself 
with, she gives no evidence of being commanded. It is 
no more strange that man would use the tools that 
Nature gave him free of charge to defame her character 
by claiming that she thrusts her offspring upon earth 
in a state of depravity. When a man will disown his 
mother, and after failing to enslave his own image seeks 
to cripple the mind by compulsory training to satisfy his 


3io 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


desire for monopoly, it would at least justify the individ¬ 
ual in asserting his natural independence, even publicly. 
Whatever effort is made to define spirit by any artificial 
word, betrays the effort to intrude upon the mystery of 
Nature. Man never made a greater presumption than 
to even attempt to explain the hidden power ot Nature, 
or what the word “spirit” is universally agreed upon by 
entire humanity to stand for. To presume upon its 
attributes is well defined as ‘‘taking liberties,” which is 
merely trying to stretch an effort to obtain results. 

Spirit is a power so strictly individual that the free 
action of man to roam at will in the realm of art, by 
the exercise of it, is not permitted to either command or 
convey the power to any structural product of art. 
There is no one feature that the individual can discover in 
history more striking than the failure of every human 
effort that has presumed to possess a greater knowledge 
than the spirit itself reveals to the individual mind. 

The word “imagination” and its numerous synonyms 
are for the purpose of confounding the understanding, 
with a purpose to divert the individual mind to an obe¬ 
dience to human authority, strictly a product of art. 
The effort to rob the individual of the privilege of 
imagination by the imitative faculty of art, is as impossi¬ 
ble as to paint the fragrance of a rose. No man in 
history is more conspicuous than Napoleon Bonaparte 
in his effort to carry art to the extreme limit for the sole 
purpose of justifying human authority over his fellow 
men in his own image. The greed of man however, 
once it is thoroughly cultivated, will hold a man in its 
grip as firmly and is equally as disastrous as the power of 
alcohol. It should be observed that alcohol is the most 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 31 I 

successful effort of man in producing an artificial spirit. 
Also, if natural man becomes inspired with it by the 
ability of the cultured man to illustrate its remarkable 
potency, is it strange that he becomes a victim of art 
when Napoleon Bonaparte could not resist its tempting 
influence ? 

Alcohol is only one product of art that humanity has 
tD contend with, and plenty of literature exists that will 
disclose multitudes of other products. But if the indi¬ 
vidual character of humanity was studied without a strict 
adherence to some specific human authority, it would 
at least improve the individual student, when he could 
reveal his discovery to others, who would only have to 
try it to prove how successful it was. 

The powerful influence of human authority over its 
own kind, has scarcely been pricked by the advent of 
America. Although in comparison with the past, it 
would appear by the evidence of some enthusiastic 
writers, that the millennium was in sight. If the arti¬ 
ficial spirit alcohol, incidentally Satan, controls the 
political system followed by all branches of culture, for 
the purpose of establishing an imitation aristocracy in 
the United States, the millennium will not be enjoyed 
by the present generation. 

A person however sincere in his abhorence of in¬ 
temperance should observe that alcohol is a product of 
art, and not chargeable to the wickedness of Nature or 
the weakness of natural man. It is not introduced to 
natural man in the spirit of kindness or from the labor 
of love, what has been referred to before as Nature’s 
method instilled into the parent to protect its offspring. 
The object of introducing alcohol to natural man is for 


312 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


profit, and also to humble him to a condition of service. 
The same principle is embraced in methods of culture 
for the same object. A person who sincerely strives to 
interest a poor laborer to abstain from drinking alcohol 
will make the same exertion to protect an imitation 
aristocracy or an excellence of art that depends for its 
very existence upon the debauching of natural man. 

It is a common assertion that a snake will live until 
its head is crushed, and all systems of injustice toward 
natural man have been protected by men who derived a 
profit from them, and only when they were crushed at 
the head would reason prevail. 

Democracy, the opposite of aristocracy, includes 
natural man; it does not exclude culture or education, 
but is excluded from aristocracy by its own fiat of main¬ 
taining an exclusive class by reason of the excellence of 
culture. Democracy is not noted for being aggressive; 
on the contrary natural man is timid, and only aroused 
to anger by the thrusts of injustice that he is made to 
bear, when he will fight with his natural privilege of 
defence with more spirit than was ever displayed by the 
trained soldier. Yes, natural man is dangerous, but he 
has had so slight opportunity to display his social 
qualities from a natural standpoint, that he will have to 
wait until in “the course of human events,” as the Dec¬ 
laration of Independence puts it, he will be privileged to 
prove his qualities again. With all the stigmas and 
oppression that democracy has been compelled to bear, 
and all the fears that aristocracy has displayed, it could 
scarcely make a worse record than its opposite, if 
the duty of governing society was suddenly thrust upon 
natural man. Nature is not only a mystery, but often 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


313 


acts with such promptness as to take man’s authority 
away, that he has always abused, and permit “the course 
of human events ” to beat out a new path. 

That the realm of art is comparatively so trivial to 
what the imagination is privileged to conceive, it would 
seem that the individual with his free will and privilege 
of discovery upon one planet of a system so vast, could 
at least be respectful toward Nature and show ability 
enough to organize an impartial government to protect 
the opportunity of all without trying to prove that the 
enjoyment of society was only the privilege of the or¬ 
ganized few, who in groups are constantly warring with 
each other. The jealousies of different nations and rival 
factions have practically prevented the experiment of an 
impartial government. Governments, however, are the 
product of a nation, vvhether they are elective or military 
despots. Nature is not so inconsistent as to bestow a 
free will upon one individual and then subject him to the 
authority of another that was turned loose with no 
greater privilege. If any individual man has ever 
obtained a commission from a higher authority than 
Nature, it was successfully disputed at Yorktown. 

Miniature governments had such a brief existence 
after that event that no history exists that records de¬ 
tailed conditions. But enough is known in a traditional 
manner to show that a democratic government is possible. 
If natural man is supposed to be so eager to fight and 
quarrel, it is not a fraction of what history reveals of 
cultured man, who seems to try to monopolize all the 
fight that human nature is endowed with. 

All the knowledge that man has been able to demon¬ 
strate is but the reflection of Nature, and aristocracy is 


3H 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


so full of fight to protect its claim to a “ vested right ,r 
from a higher power, that it is practically in rebellion 
against Nature It is hardly debatable, for a man who 
is intoxicated with culture or artificial spirit is a subject 
for regeneracy before reason is possible. When it is 
recognized that Nature is the positive from which all 
literature and artificial structure is derived, a prior au¬ 
thority than that of books should be sufficient, at least, 
to satisfy the individual of the relation he bore to society. 
That is, every individual derives his tenure of existence 
upon the earth from the most positive source known to¬ 
man. Nature furnishes the five senses for the purpose 
of protection; hence, what the individual learns from 
this source and the mysterious power of imagination is 
the only protection he has against the autocratic dispo¬ 
sition of men in his own image. The fact that one can¬ 
not observe the imaginary power of another is a positive 
proof to the individual that it is a private privilege, and 
what b most important, it is prior to anv instruction or 
influence derived from another. It is the only method 
by which he obtains natural education, and also the only 
education of any ethical value to the individual. Soci¬ 
ety suggests methods of expression that reveal mutual 
powers of imagination ; the discovery of art develops 
methods of expression that add greatly to the progress 
of society. Hence we have both natural and artificial 
knowledge for the one purpose of life, to obtain food to 
satisfy the appetite and also cultivate any fancy that 
imagination suggests. Nature never pulls anyone out of 
the fire, but she made fire so hot that every effort of 
the individual would be exerted to get out. If anyone 
had any doubt of the existence of natural knowledge. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 315. 

he could prove it himself without artificial introduction. 

Friendship is so uncertain from the evidence of his¬ 
tory, that the wise individual will cling to his natural 
knowledge with more benefit to himself than to yield to 
the temptation of art and accept artificial knowledge as 
a substitute for the natural. The source of knowledge is 
a safer foundation for the individual to depend upon for 
his progress in life than to be guided by the negative of 
knowledge that is brilliantly displayed for the sole pur¬ 
pose of servile obedience. Any individual, in the ab¬ 
sence of an experience of a betrayal of confidence, can 
find plenty of evidence of the duplicity of man toward 
others of like image. The individual can always trust 
himself, but if he is made to believe that he is too selfish,, 
try the experiment on a small scale and observe how 
much the adviser charges for his advice. 

A careful study of Nature will disclose an impartial 
treatment toward entire humanity that no authority of 
man has ever been able to equal. No person has need 
to ask information of another in whom to trust, since 
he is in possession of the original authority that no man 
has improved upon. A careful examination of man’s 
assumed authority will reveal the fact, that every human 
being that has ever tried to justify any authority over 
his kind has always based such authority upon imagina¬ 
tion, a power that is individual, and the privilege of all 
to exercise. 

Christ set the example of individuality with the 
preference of death to any submission to man’s authority. 
All attractive literature, or what is called standard, and 
maintained and recommended according to the promi¬ 
nence of the authors, is pro-aristocratic. The only demo- 


3i6 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


cratic literature that could not be destroyed prior to the 
advent of America was the Bible, and the United States 
was the first civil government to recognize the book to 
be an individual privilege to read without being com¬ 
pelled to accept some specific interpretation. 

A natural idea may seem too paradoxical for a culti¬ 
vated or artificial man to notice, but when it can be seen 
by even a brief study of history that all progress and 
civilization were derived from the persistent effort of 
natural man against the opposition of the artificial man, 
the trend of human society should be clear to anyone 
who can read. Method of expression is a mere privilege 
of choice; it has no relation to education other than a 
polish for the purpose of attraction. A haughty person 
intoxicated with conceit and artificial culture will rebuke 
another for presuming to utter an original idea in some 
crude method of expression; he is admonished to learn 
how to talk before he speaks in the presence of an 
•“ educated man.” The natural man often knows more 
than he can express, and when he meets a stranger as 
‘‘ignorant” as himself, bred in a different language, the 
two are able to compare their condition in life and estab¬ 
lish a bond of social companionship that would put arti¬ 
ficial culture to shame. The educated man forges ahead, 
while the cultured man represents a finished article and 
forges the word education when he applies it to the 
word culture. 

Many public school teachers who are graduates of 
Normal schools are doubtless ignorant of the real pur¬ 
pose of these schools. A careful study of the situation 
from a variety of facts, and also the results that are 
becoming more prominent every day is everybody’s 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


317 


privilege to examine. The principal evil of the system 
is, it is decidedly un-American. It counteracts the first 
principle of a government of the people, and being 
established by the most corrupt political system that 
ever had a prior existence, it is founded on gross de¬ 
ception. The very graduates will rebel just as soon as 
they realize how their natural sensibilities have been 
played upon for political effect. The reading age will 
not long endure such a system of deception ; besides. 
Nature has shown too much regard for the general wel¬ 
fare of humanity to permit natural man to be trained to 
serve since the failure to chain him is so very recent. 

Is any man so crazed with culture that he sin¬ 
cerely believes that the American people will permit 
aristocracy and monarchial customs to be taught at 
the public expense after the people find it out ? In 
the early days of the republic, education was re¬ 
spected in homespun simplicity, while now it is 
being entirely discarded for the illusive attraction of 
culture, often alluded to as education. Private insti¬ 
tutions of culture are within the personal rights of the 
wealthy that would be self-regulating, but to cultivate 
the poor with prospective expectation of dollars by 
reason of being specifically trained, introduces the 
temptation to commit crime for the sole purpose of 
escaping natural responsibilities, is a defiance of Nature 
that disturbs the happiness of life. It is a mere phan¬ 
tom for anyone to believe that a common privilege is 
possible to obtain the luxuries of life by a class system 
that is degenerating from its own weight. A cultured 
person has no intention of performing drudgery or why 
the culture ? Cultured poverty is an unhappy condition 


318 the degeneracy of aristocracy. 

that the grossest ignorance is superior to. There is 
evidence enough without specification, that the illumina¬ 
tion of prospective wealth leads to intemperance, crime, 
and prostitution. It is idle to manufacture statistics to 
prove that natural man is corrupting society when it is 
common observation to notice that the cultured are more 
indifferent to moral restraint than the common laborers. 
The political system encourages legislation to restrain the 
habits of the common laborer, while their health and 
productiveness is a natural rebuke in comparison to the 
sickly and barren condition of the cultured. Educated 
men are trying to correct these evils, but the purpose 
for which the present school system was organized is the 
evil. That is, how can mere methods of instruction 
affect the general purpose, which is to cultivate a class 
system of society that is designed to control the gov¬ 
ernment in exact imitation of European aristocracy. 

Democratic sentiments used to be taught in the early 
schools, while now pro-aristrocratic literature is freely 
used as text book, and with brief eulogies to the faithful¬ 
ness of Washington, the policy of John Adams is being 
carefully inculcated into the mind of youth with the 
admonition that culture is the only passport to “ respect¬ 
able” society. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


319 


CHAPTER XXX. 

CJ OVERNMENT is what a nation of men make it, and 
Ut man is just what he makes himself; when he tries 
to shirk his responsibilities he will have to take the 
consequences whether he is willing or not. It is a re¬ 
markable observation that a group of people who won 
their independence from a tyrannical government were so 
quickly betrayed by the representative men, who were 
trusted with the formation of a government. That 
a few men, forming a part of a distinct group, acknowl¬ 
edged to be an independent nation, could declare them¬ 
selves to be superior to the group as a whole, and ask 
the whole group to ratify the presumptive authority, had 
no parallel as a piece of deception in the most tyrannical 
government existing at the time. 

Had the first representatives elected themselves to be 
the ruling power of America, with the privilege to choose 
their own successors, the result politically could not have 
been any worse than the present. A lawyer who was 
unable to falsify facts by the use of words, and establish 
a falsehood to be the equal of the truth, could not ob¬ 
tain a large salary as a corporation attorney, for that is 
just what they are paid for. If a parent should abandon 
its offspring with the excuse that it was too ignorant to 
offer any defence against whatever act a parent chose to 


320 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


do, it would be a parallel to the position that John Adams 
took as the sole guardian of America. Washington is 
called the father of America, and with good reason, 
for no public act is recorded against him where he ever 
abandoned the people because they were “too ignorant” 
to know what was lor their best good. Had Washington 
been the peer of John Adams in the excellence of cul¬ 
ture and his ability to make words deny their origin, we 
would undoubtedly be enjoying an Adams as a king at 
the present time. The only respect John Adams ever 
had for the people was after Washington refused to be 
crowned, when he feared the people would not permit 
him to crown himself. 

The present corrupt condition of the United States is 
largely due to the personal ambition of Adams and his 
contempt for the common people. He succeeded in 
establishing an American aristocracy, but being so able 
in the use of words he might have called it a cultivated 
democracy. The most important feature that concerns 
the present, is the fact that the people were practically 
disfranchised, and the ruling power of the government 
vested in a political system equally as autocratic as the 
aristocratic system of Europe. It is only the fear 
of the people that aristocracy or our political system 
is troubled about, for any man who would make the 
necessary effort to deceive another, betrays by the act 
that it is ocasioned by fear. As long as the people can 
be deceived into the belief that individual votes affect 
the action of the government, political systems or aris¬ 
tocracy have nothing to fear. The principle of fear, 
however, is a great factor in human affairs, for it is a 
well worn adage that “the wicked flee.” If a man 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


321 


felt that he was acting toward another out of sincere 
pity for his ignorance, in a spirit of friendship for him, 
he would be the last man in the world to be afraid of, or 
why take the trouble to be so “kind ” to him ? Besides, 
if he felt it his duty from previous fear, the fear should 
cease after the duty is performed. Hence the principle 
of fear between two combatants is a feature of pro¬ 
tection while the fear is equally balanced. It is a well 
known principle also, that two contending parties never 
borrow ammunition from each other. 

it is the merest subterfuge, therefore, in any form 
that it can be presented, that the representatives'elected 
by the votes of the people have any interest in the wel¬ 
fare of the voters. This introduces a subject of con¬ 
troversy that involves personal interest. Washington 
set the example, however, in what pertained to the duty 
of a “public servant” or representative of the people. 
That is, a man who could not sacrifice his personal 
interest for the public welfare would belie the term rep¬ 
resentative. The individual privilege to settle a question 
so vital to his welfare as to determine whether to act 
by his own judgment or seek the advice of another, is- 
well illustrated in the trade between Esau and Jacob. 

Progress is impossible without the individual courage: 
to act independently. It would be combative, however, 
and appear formidable to a person having had very little 
experience. This principle is well understood by a pro¬ 
gressive man regardless of the moral feature of the 
object. There is no evidence in history that aristocracy 
was ever successful in maintaining a permanent govern¬ 
ment. Oppression and an effort to train the plebian 
class to be obedient to men who appeared to be superior 


322 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


by their ability to proclaim it themselves shows a motive. 
A careful observation of the fears of aristocracy and the 
continued efforts to deceive and frighten the more nu¬ 
merous class is evidence enough that people who hold 
such an opinion know it to be unjust. 

Any considerable group of people will establish some 
system of government which is a natural condition. 
Aboriginal communities lived in peace until they became 
aggressive toward some other community. If it is right 
for the strongest to subdue the weak, it should be ob¬ 
served that revolution either destroys or humiliates the 
stronger. The battle between David and Goliath shows 
that righteousness is stronger than any artificial pre¬ 
tension. The only method since the time of David bv 
which a man is convinced that his self-importance hns 
no commanding influence, is from misfortune that sets 
him back to the condition of a natural, man that he had 
previously despised. 

Man-cannot escape his responsibilities by any accumu¬ 
lation of wealth or intellectual acquirements. Whatever 
scorn or reproach may be hurled at the defenceless 
man who appears to be consigned to drudgery, his bur¬ 
den is light compared to the man who is burdened with 
his own importance. The faculty of a sincere belief is 
as much a privilege as the free will, but any person who 
has not surrendered his individual right to his own 
reason can scarcely fail to observe how indifferent natural 
law is to a mere belief; for whoever believes sincerely 
will not only believe that others would be improved if 
they would believe as he did, but will defy natural law 
in seeking to train or compel others to believe what he 
is sincerely conscious of himself. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


323 


After a person becomes thoroughly trained to recog¬ 
nize the reason of others as being superior to his own, 
he becomes of great assistance to any human scheme to 
•defraud the innocent of their natural rights. It is Nature 
that punishes for any disregard of her laws, and no 
threat of vengeance that man can invent can rob a man 
of his natural protection if he possesses the courage to 
exercise his own reason. Human law against natural 
law is art against Nature, and it would tax the lawyer to 
the limit of his ability to quibble with words to find a 
precedent in all history when art ever escaped a severe 
punishment for the least attempt to infringe upon Nature. 
Even the most profound literature is a witness against 
itself in any attempt to prove a prior authority to that 
from which the very source of utterance was derived. 

Learned men understand what' a popular form of gov¬ 
ernment means, and they also understand the power of 
a corrupt system of politics, but what they are not willing 
to understand, is anything that interferes with their per¬ 
sonal prerogatives; it is this feature that makes the 
improvements in systems of governments so difficult. 
After a man is trained to believe he can obtain a living 
•easier than earning it himself, he will submit to punish¬ 
ment more severe than drudgery itself before he will 
work. Exception to such a rule merely proves that 
Nature clings to an individual regardless of how severely 
he is trained, making it possible to revive his reason. 

The present system of government recognizes the 
individual privilege to interpret literal authority without 
being subjected to legal punishment, because he refuses 
to accept some specific interpretation. It is a great 
gain for human progress, yet the monopolist of artificial 


324 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


knowledge is as unwilling to recognize natural justice 
toward the common laborer as the slave holders were to 
be deprived of their “ human property.” There is no 
evidence from previous events that the ruling class 
will ever yield except by votes or bayonets ; if the former 
is defied as the slave holders did, encouraged by the 
Adams pDlitical system, the welfare of humanity will be 
improved by bayonets. 

The present conditions are not so obscure to educated 
men, but salaries and social positions outweigh human 
justice; the past, however, reveals the probabilities of 
the future, and no argument can be shown that the mere 
ignorance of artificial knowledge deprives a man of his 
natural rights. Opportunities have always risen in the 
past, and no reason can be shown why a vote or a voice 
has any distinctive character that it must first be obedi¬ 
ent to some other vote or voice before it can be trusted 
with individual expression. It is suggestive of owner¬ 
ship to ordain that a man only earned the privilege of 
being trained to the exercise of citizenship by a system 
that protects its own profit by striving to keep the 
common voter ignorant of his strength. If artificial 
knowledge is destined to improve the world by encour¬ 
aging a ruling class, the opportunity was more favorable 
previous to the advent of America, for there is no evi¬ 
dence that society is less greedy for special privileges at 
present than at any previous period. 

A direct expression of the individual voter is just as 
much his right as the privilege to vote for a represent¬ 
ative. It is mere presumption to contend that the voter 
elects a representative better qualified to determine what 
he wr'.nts than the voter himself, or why the voter ? 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


325 


Again, if it is impractical for a voter to act directly upon 
a measure of law that he will be compelled to submit to, 
from whence did the representative derive his authority 
to obey the political “trust” that was organized to take 
good care that labor would be taxed sufficiently to satisfy 
the growing greed of the system? If the voter was 
enlightened sufficiently to become dangerous, it could 
hardly be possible for him to become more dangerous 
than a political system that controls the public treasury, 
and all the military power, also in practical alliance with 
the judiciary, corporate interests, and the educational 
system of the country. The only qualification that 
constitutes a voter, is courage enough to assert his in¬ 
dividual opinion either by ballot or whatever form of 
utterance he chooses to take. No man ever helped to 
elect another that gave the elected a natural right to 
qualify a voter. It is indirectly taught to youth that 
artificial knowledge subjects natural endowments to an 
obedience. Plainly stated, it is a disguised effort to 
impress upon the credulous mind that art commands 
Nature. It makes it appear that the privilege to vote 
was derived from governing officials. It is like a child 
demanding obedience from a parent after it becomes 
influenced by the attraction of art. 

College students are permitted to study the relation 
of art to Nature only after they are taught that educated 
men, by reason of their superior ability, will be able to 
command obedience from whoever are less favored. 
Greed for authority, and ability to obtain dollars, suggest 
a life of luxury without drudgery, and after a thorough 
contempt for natural ability is instilled into a man’s mind, 
he will take to aristocracy as a fish to water. The very 


326 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

few, however, who have courage enough to cling to their 
natural training, with respect for their origin, are power¬ 
less to control the fierce desire for authority and dollars. 
There is no evidence in history that moral character was 
ever improved by artificial training. Statistics are more 
often considered to deceive the people than to expose 
corruption in high places, and the individual only can 
protect his personal interest by judging for himself. 
The individual who lacks the courage of independence 
will always find himself serving some other interest than 
his own. 

While colleges teach science and moral ethics, they 
also expound democratic principle, and encourage polit¬ 
ical aristocracy. History reveals the fact, that all 
constructive progress is derived from comparative ob¬ 
scurity, and whatever usefulness college graduates ever 
attain, they never reach beyond .successful imitators. 
Political economy is the most important feature of 
higher education. It is assumed that only men of 
ability can administer the affairs of government. Grant¬ 
ing it to be a fact, it is also a fact that all officials 
before election are very solicitous for the welfare of the 
people, while after the event, the voter is told he is not 
capable of understanding the intricate working of 
politics. 

The first principle of suffrage is individual, and equality 
of the right to exist upon the earth is just as much 
the right of woman as man. Nature recognizes the in¬ 
dividuality of man—a vote — a voice — and can any 
one man or selected group of men claim a preeminence 
or even an equal power with Nature. The ability to 
deceive a man ignorant of defence, is the excuse of a 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


327 


thief, and the excuse of the slave owner was that ig¬ 
norant man was incapable of taking care of himself, 
hence between two “ mill stones ” what power other than 
Nature will keep the ignorant man from being ground 
into dust. A government is never superior to what a 
nation of humanity makes it, and while the man and 
vote are both recognized, the effectiveness of the vote 
' depends upon individual courage. Nature could not 
reasonably be expected to do more after giving man an 
individual title to a free will, besides the multitude of 
reenforcements that Nature adds to humanity would 
seem to defy all the effort of art to depopulate the earth. 
It should also teach wisdom to the wise, since aristocracy 
depends wholly upon artificial training, democracy is 
favored with the control of the original advent of hu¬ 
manity upon the earth. The past shows no encourage¬ 
ment for aristocracy, and when democracy discovers the 
value of votes, the possibilities of the future will de¬ 
velop changes in systems of government even greater 
than the past. 

When it is observed that Nature is really the ruling 
power upon earth, and human authority is confined to 
art, which at best is a mere negative of Nature, govern¬ 
ments are no exceptions to any structure of art. One 
vote therefore, regardless of qualification, has just as 
much constructive value as another, and whether natural 
methods of government are recognized or not, by a spe¬ 
cific class electing itself to rule, man with his ability to 
read, is bound to discover the fraud Oppression will 
gradually stimulate courage in the minds of the op¬ 
pressed in like manner to the effort of man to obstruct 
a natural stream of water by erecting a dam; there is 


328 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

always a limit, however, to any effort to obstruct Nature. 

Democrats may be charged with whatever crime or 
folly it pleases aristocracy to concoct, they can wait their 
opportunity with more ease than their oppressors, for 
one has only to read the daily papers to notice the fear 
that aristocracy is always possessed with. It is an ap¬ 
parent relief for some people, who are burdened with 
more than they can utilize, to express sympathy for 
some poor laborer, who fails to appreciate the sympathy 
by reason of natural health, a good appetite, and nothing 
whatever to distress him. 

It would seem that a due regard to natural law would 
suggest methods of improving society that artificial 
knowledge is constantly failing to do. Sheep will follow 
a leader to destruction, but some natural intelligence 
must surely remain in humanity to guard against the 
folly of following the craze that dollars are the only 
object of life. All dollars must first be earned by hu¬ 
man labor, after which they can be obtained by stealing, 
in trade, and a great variety of deceptive methods, but 
it is very doubtful if any method was ever more con¬ 
ducive of happiness than earning them. 

A government that only protects a favored class in 
whatever direction their desires lead them is not mod¬ 
eled from natural methods of government, for Nature 
gives no evidence of partiality toward any particular 
race or social distinction. The fact that a large majority 
of humanity are more natural and productive would seem 
to be a reproof to the minority, who are constantly ex¬ 
pressing fear that the ignorant voter will disturb the 
conservative character of elevated society. Fear betrays 
an absence of faith and trust that is equally as un- 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


329 


Christian as paganism. No human power can guide the 
popular will once it discovers its power; besides, no rep¬ 
resentative body has ever given evidence of faithfulness 
toward the whole people, hence a direct vote of the 
whole will be irresistible just as soon as the opportunity 
occurs. 


CHAPTER XXXI. 

A DIRECT vote of the people in establishing laws 
to govern society, and also all commercial affairs, 
is not only possible, but also probable. The rep¬ 
resentative system was founded upon ancient authority 
that dictated the subjugation of any human being ig¬ 
norant of the means of defence. The American revo¬ 
lution established a nation by force of arms upon the 
literal authority of the Declaration of Independence, so 
plainly written that men who could not read it under¬ 
stood its meaning as soon as they heard it read. It 
practically proclaimed the same human rights that Christ 
taught to the humble and ignorant, who understood what 
the teaching meant in like manner to the colonists. 

The people were betrayed by their representatives in 
whom they had confidence. The people were taught to 
believe they were establishing a government that was 
officially conducted by “servants” of the people. But 
when the “servants” discovered they could declare 


330 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


themselves masters of the situation they prevailed upon 
the voters to disfranchise themselves and ratify an agree¬ 
ment that has practically changed a representative to a 
master, while they retained the word “representative ” 
because it sounded better than the word “master.” 
Master it has been in act ever since the Constitution was 
ratified. 

Man was made a voter, however, before America wa.^ 
discovered, but after generations have passed away and 
early traditions are barely remembered, the masters of the 
republic have gradually voted themselves privileges until 
it is proclaimed that the government bestows liberty 
upon the “citizens ” whom the masters are pleased to call 
the subjects of a system equally as autocratic as Euro¬ 
pean systems of government. The government is be¬ 
coming so corrupt that the frauds cannot be hidden from 
the reading people, and the effort to shift responsibilities 
from one to another makes very interesting reading for 
people who are constantly being told that voters must 
be trained to elect better men to represent them. But 
while dishonest men control the institutions of training,, 
it would seem hardly probable that voters will be. 
trained to overthrow the masters. 

A circumstance that occurred in the Massachusetts 
legislature reveals the present situation. A bill was 
presented to refer all acts of the legislature to the people 
for a direct vote on petition of ten per cent of the legal 
voters. While the House favored the bill, the Senate 
promptly reversed the favorable action. It simply shows- 
that the people have no voice whatever in making the 
laws that they are governed by. It was the most com¬ 
plete exposure of the John Adams aristocracy since the: 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


33 r 


United States undertook to compete with England in 
deceiving the people. 

For what reason did the Massachusetts Senate fear 
the people as a whole were not capable of passing upon 
the wisdom of their representatives? It was remark¬ 
able, at least, that a single voter assisted to elevate a 
man to become superior to the power that elevated him. 
It would seem that the time had arrived for the people 
to demand a recognition of the Declaration of Inde¬ 
pendence in a practical manner. The representatives of 
a sovereign people have certainly proved that a republic 
could be as autocratic as a monarchy. The grievances 
numerated in 1776 were mild in comparison to what the 
people are compelled to bear at present. Even King 
George merely declared what the Massachusetts Senate 
did — that laws must be enacted whether the people 
were willing or not. The people are well informed by 
the daily papers in regard fo the injustice that is being 
served to them by legislative bodies; but how to prevent 
it is the query, when a man is no sooner elected to an 
office than he is taken in charge by the political system. 
When thieves can be reformed sufficiently to make 
stealing respectable, the political system can be trusted 
to protect such a reform. 

Chattel slavery was destroyed by the people taking 
the matter into their own hands regardless of the political 
system that supported slavery. A new party was 
formed that the people supported just as.soon as it was 
understood what it was for. It was, however, a tem¬ 
porary party devoted to a single object, and it did not 
reveal the evil of a political system. It is the system, 
regardless of party lines, that prevents the voter ex- 


332 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


ercising his will directly upon the law that he is gov¬ 
erned by. While parties are striving to obtain control 
of the government, neither of them would advocate a 
referendum principle as a party issue, for it would be 
the destruction of the system. 

Doctors would never unite together and agree to 
instruct the people in any method by which they could 
cure themselves. It is parallel to the political system, 
and if the people voted direct for its officials, and passed 
upon all laws recommended by representatives elect, 
the absence of profit would destroy any system. 

Reforms always spring from obscurity, and generally 
very unexpected in manner at least. It is only by the 
individual courage, however, that any change from the 
well beaten path takes place. It is enough to satisfy 
the average man’s ambition to be a successful imitator, 
for to suggest a new idea, or a method to reach an old 
one, is equivalent to sacrificing the friendship of anyone 
whose interests would be disturbed. 

A speculative suggestion, however, could scarcely be 
considered as dangerous when it comes from a person 
with no motive of self-interest. It is an individual con¬ 
viction that a single issue would be as effective at the 
present time in correcting the present evils, as the anti¬ 
slavery movement was. 

If the individual voter would assert his right by de¬ 
claring he would not vote for any man for any office 
whatever who would not make a public declaration in 
favor of a referendum principle, it would at least prevent 
the bribery of legislators, for the people as a whole 
could not be bought. At first it would appear very 
impractical, and the very fact that all prominent poli- 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


333 


ticians would oppose it, would be the best recommenda¬ 
tion the subject could have. It is already feared by 
leading politicians that the people will demand the right 
to vote direct for United States senators, but that 
question would be settled if State legislatures were com¬ 
pelled by the people to refer all their acts to a direct 
vote. It is a possibility, and the great advantages to be 
derived from it would make it a probability. 

The right of the people to adopt whatever measure 
they choose, however radical, is just as much the right 
at the present time, and no more radical than when it 
was first agitated to free the colored slaves. That the 
social disorder must be relieved in some way, no honest 
man can dispute. The people owe nothing to the politi¬ 
cal system, and if it could survive after the people had 
voted yes or no upon every act of a legislature, it would 
be more of a relic of the past than a necessity of the 
present. 

The fifth article in the Constitution makes it possible 
to amend it according to any demand that a united 
people choose to make. The political system, however, 
is more to confound the understanding of the people 
than to offer any suggestion of benefit. It should be 
observed that democracy is just as much feared by the 
political system of America as aristocracy fears it in 
Europe. The signs of the times are certainly favorable 
for the laboring man just as soon as he acts for some 
single purpose. The great diversity of interests makes 
it easy for a political system to keep democracy divided, 
but no possible interest of the working man could be 
injured by a direct vote upon all acts that he is gov¬ 
erned by. 


.334 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


All taxes are derived from labor, but the body of men 
who make laws that dictate what portion of a man’s 
labor shall be appropriated to defray the expense of 
government is an autocratic body, the fact that they are 
elected is counteracted by the political system that con¬ 
trols every act of a legislature. Political corruption is 
too well known to need repeating, but the effort to train 
the people to believe that some system is necessary is 
the individual privilege to determine. It is no crime to 
be ignorant when a representative body is privileged by 
its own fiat to take whatever advantage their knowledge 
gives them to deceive the apparently helpless. If a 
man can be so artificially trained that he can become as 
privileged as his master, to rule the people for his own 
benefit, natural knowledge would be a better dependence 
than the artificial. History also reveals the fact that 
civilization is derived from natural knowledge, while all 
the wickedness of the world is derived from the artificial. 
If a man dares to defy his surroundings he is crucified 
at once, hence, whoever dares to interfere with a profit¬ 
able system should never expect a reward from the 
system or from anyone who is a patron. 

It is a natural right of every individual to defend his 
self-interest, and no one could contend that the interest 
of the voter is better served by an intermediate system 
between himself and his government. Like all other 
•systems that are organized to leech upon the toil of the 
producer, the political system is improved by growing 
worse. No system of the ancients was ever permitted 
to continue in oppressing the common people without 
being destroyed or so frightened that it was compelled 
to recognize the demand of the food producer. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


335 


The present conveniences of conveying intelligence 
makes it possible for the whole people to vote upon the 
entire business of Congress as expeditiously as an ordi¬ 
nary election of State officers. Every voter could see 
for himself that his vote was counted. A district of 
•convenient size could be arranged with a complete list 
of all the voters who could receive a ballot by mail, 
with the acts he was to pass upon plainly expressed, 
with a coupon attached to correspond with the act and 
properly numbered to show the act it was designed to 
represent. Yes and No could be printed on the coupon, 
so as to readily detach either the yes or no; whichever 
was retained would be a voucher to prove that the 
opposite was what the voter sent to the receiving office. 
Hence no possible opportunity could occur for either 
fraudulent voting or counting, for the reason that every 
voter could see by his district report whether his vote 
was properly recorded, and if not, his voucher would be 
good evidence to have the report corrected. District 
reports could be readily compiled into towns, cities, and 
states, with as much dispatch as present methods are 
conducted. A direct vote for President or State officers 
•could be conducted with less difficulty than at present. 

Any individual citizen of a nation that is declared to 
be governed by an elective system, who believes that his 
personality is of more importance than the vote he rep¬ 
resents, betrays his aristocratic attachment. Besides, it 
would be too self-destructive for any political party to 
advocate a direct vote of the people. The political 
system is strictly for the benefit of itself first, after 
which it will consort with any corporate interests that 
it can either compel or attract as a combination of in- 


336 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


terest. What the system will act upon is a profound 
secret, while it will profess a friendship for the people 
to obtain votes after it had secretly conspired with cor¬ 
porate interests in some scheme to plunder the food 
producer. The seductive politician of any influence 
will talk eloquently upon the necessity of reforming ex¬ 
isting evils, while he will with equal talent promise to 
support the evil to obtain votes from both the reformer 
and evildoer. 

Hence it is only by individual exertion that any im¬ 
provement in government is possible. Nature rules the 
world by protecting humanity from being annihilated, 
and no group of people are ever thrown together but 
what they will naturally form some system of govern¬ 
ment for self-preservation. The effort to maintain a 
privileged class of society with special government 
favors has caused the slaughter of more human beings 
than the earth contains at the present time. Yet no 
system of government has ever been tried that would 
include a nation of people but what a favored class has 
dictated the system. 

If a people know enough so it becomes necessary to 
deceive them in order to make them law-abiding, they 
are competent to govern themselves. Besides, the very 
fear that aristocracy always exhibits toward democracy 
is an admission that democracy has a natural instinct of 
defence. Nature again sets an example of impartial 
government by instilling the spirit of defence into 
natural man that all the art of aristocracy has continu¬ 
ally failed to combat with successfully. 

If the United States is believed to enjoy a popular 
form of government, the man so believing could be 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


337 


scarcely more unreasonable if he should advocate a 
return to the dominion of England. The common 
people have been respected to the extent of being 
feared, besides the political system is conducted secretly. 
Both circumstances would be good evidence against the 
system by any impartial judge. 

Democracy has always represented the physical force 
of all nations by a large majority, while aristocracy is a 
class of a small minority who claim a privilege to rule 
by reason of a greater degree of cultivated ability. The 
degeneracy of aristocracy is self-convicting by the evi¬ 
dence of history, and the present boldness of displaying 
its corruption that it is only maintained by the seduction 
of recruits from the democratic ranks. From a natural 
standpoint it represents the larger part of human disease 
that taxes the science of medicine to counteract the 
defiance of Nature. 

Art is a good servant, but when it obtains the mas¬ 
tery it becomes a tyrant that has no equal. The effort 
to employ art to subjugate natural man is as impossible 
as to subjugate Nature itself. After so many failures 
since the Israelites attempted to overpower the law of 
Nature and establish a law unto themselves, it would 
seem that reason would outbalance the desire to compel 
natural man to serve by some deceptive device that arti¬ 
ficial knowledge makes possible. 

Democracy can wait in comfort compared to what 
aristocracy appears to suffer, for the first human beings 
that Columbus discovered in America were more sur¬ 
prised than dependent upon his discovery. If they had 
been as depraved as the later Spaniards were in trying 
to enslave them, they would not have treated Columbus 


338 THE degeneracy of aristocracy. 

with the kindness that history records of them. One 
has no occasion to stretch his reasoning powers to ob¬ 
serve that the first natural men of America were in 
possession of natural knowledge as much superior to the 
artificial as a man is to his portrait. No group of men 
can so completely emulate Nature as to impart privileges 
to others in their own image that have any comparison to 
what Nature bestows upon the individual. Hence it is 
not in the power of man or a nation of men to grant the 
right of suffrage to either man or woman ; that right is 
granted at birth as much as the privilege to breathe. 

The imitation of things is often mistaken for the 
real, and- because a man can be deceived by his fellow- 
man, it in no sense justifies the deceiver. The Ameri¬ 
can Colonies were a nation composed of thirteen 
democratic States when England acknowledged their 
independence. There was no human power on earth that 
could grant them any more. Now if anyone can explain 
how any body of men obtained authority as a grantee to 
become the grantor of all future privileges to the grantee 
while the favored party was and had been a part of the 
nation that was the original grantor. To be more ex¬ 
plicit, is it reasonable that a people having just gained 
their independence would immediately surrender their 
present and future interests unless they were deceived 
or unduly influenced ? Even admitting they were co¬ 
erced for their own benefit, it is interesting to read from 
the Declaration of independence and signed by the very 
men who deceived the people of the independent States 
as follows: — 

“ When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for 
one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


339 


them with another, and assume among the powers of the earth the 
separate and equal station to which the laws of Nature and of 
Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of 
mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel 
them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident — that all men are created 
equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalien¬ 
able rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of 
.happiness.” 

After signing these sentiments and before the frozen 
feet of the soldiers from “Valley Forge” were scarcely 
healed, these gentlemen conspired to deprive them of 
the very privileges that were so eloquently proclaimed 
before the war. The States even disqualified voters 
who were not property holders, for fear the common 
voters did not know enough to vote for good govern¬ 
ment. It could be seen that man would become old 
waiting for some professed friend to bestow any favors 
upon him, and it is only what the individual does himself 
that breaks the shell of his surroundings, and when 
democracy learns its strength and its natural right to 
control the government, which is a mere creature of the 
people’s forbearance, it can be the dictator rather than 
be dictated to. 

A direct vote of the people upon all important acts 
of the representatives would make such a change that 
the government would not have to employ all the rela¬ 
tives of politicians, besides it would correct the necessity 
of insurance companies in using the money of their 
patrons .to promote favorable legislation. Trusts; cor¬ 
porations, and labor unions would commence to behave 
at the first agitation of the people’s right to vote direct 
for all officers, and also ratify every act of Congress or 
State Legislatures. 


340 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


CHAPTER XXXII. 

T HE famous remark of Lincoln was: “a nation can¬ 
not exist half free and half slave.” It is parallel 
to the relation between democracy and aristocracy, 
for it is equally as impossible as a government declared 
on paper to be elective and derived from the will of the 
people, while the elected representatives consort with a 
political system in secret. It would be more honorable 
to tell the people distinctly that “we,” the elect of the 
people have no intention of recognizing that a majority 
of the people are competent to rule a nation. When 
the pronouns “we” and “they” are so frequently em¬ 
ployed in the discussion of human affairs, it is interest¬ 
ing to note that “we” always relates to a small minority 
while “they” relates to a large majority. 

The advocates of a monarchial form of government 
are more frank in declaring that “the minority of a 
nation rules by reason of superior ability.” It would 
appear that the able men of the United States act from 
the same conviction but are placed in a serious dilemma, 
because they are obliged to convince the people that the 
majority rules, while they are pledged to the support 
of the minority by reason of the dollars they have re¬ 
ceived. People can believe and disbelieve at will, but 
facts will not be put down by either eloquence or con¬ 
tempt, the people are much better informed than is 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


341 


generally credited by the average scribe who presumes 
to mold public opinion. 

Public expression can be suppressed by intimidation 
and the art of paid critics, but public opinion is very 
largely a s'.lent force, and to keep that force divided 
will tax the ability of statesmen and the most astute 
politicians. The political system is not maintained for 
the benefit of the public, for men are not so self-sacri¬ 
ficing as to devote their service to an object unless it 
pays, or at least offers a prospect of profit. Hence the 
necessity of secrecy which all parties agree upon, for it 
would appear they feared the people were so ignorant 
as to refuse the benefits they were striving to bestow 
upon them. 

It is an error to believe that the people are not con¬ 
versant with the fact that both the democratic and re¬ 
publican parties are equally corrupt; they appear fiercely 
combative at times, but the leaders will unite in mutual 
friendship to prevent the people uniting upon any 
issue that would establish majority rule. No system or 
group of politicians is afraid the people will discover 
their righteous acts which reflects that secrecy is an 
effort to hide some evil. Nature is not deceived by 
secret deals or any ability of man to deprive the major¬ 
ity of the people of a knowledge of their united strength. 
The people have struggled against tyranny for five 
hundred years since the invention of the printing press 
made it possible for the individual to read, and if a 
thoughtful person would consider how impossible it is at 
present to deceive the reading public, it could be seen 
that progress occurs upon natural lines rather than the 
artificial. 


342 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


All organized systems are combatting against each 
other in their greed to profit from natural man, or he 
who is ignorant of artificial knowledge. Specific edu¬ 
cation, since the privilege to read could not be suppressed, 
has been directed toward the same object, to subjugate 
the food producing people to protect a privileged class 
of society. No human being, according to the im¬ 
pression of the individual, is deprived of the inherent 
privilege of obtaining education. Hence it is only spe¬ 
cific education that aristocracy can depend upon to 
continue the deception that has permitted them to sub¬ 
jugate democracy. 

Can a reading people be deceived by an effort to teach 
them that they cannot understand what they read until 
it is explained by some other human beings who give no 
evidence of possessing any more natural privileges than 
themselves ? The most boastful man can declare what 
he will not submit to. Also a system either religious, 
educational, or political can proclaim unitedly that they 
will never submit to the people having a direct vote, or 
what would be strictly a democratic form of government. 
It would be no more than the same system declared 
previous to the liberation of the colored slaves. 

It should be noticed that man’s boastfulness is entirely 
confined to art; besides no evidence appears from an 
individual reading of the Bible or any history, that Nature 
was partial toward any class or race in the bestowal of 
an individual free will. 

How can the reading people be deceived much longer, 
when men who were pointed to as being models to emu¬ 
late are proved to have obtained their wealth and lofty 
stations in society by a collusion with the government 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


343 


to defraud people who are too “dangerous” to be 
trusted to vote for measures rather than for men who 
are always devoted to their own interests in proportion 
to their ability ? 

It is only evil-doers that fear the speech of people or 
the publicity of their acts. No one can injure a man’s 
character more than a personal knowledge himself of 
obtaining wealth or station by depriving some other be¬ 
ing of his natural right. Publicity is more feared than 
future punishment, as the numerous suicides and escapes 
from justice will attest. It is the one hope that makes 
civilization a possibility. The ability to read and study 
the histories of the past that reveal the purpose of the 
various systems to keep democracy in servile obedience 
is a condition that the people earned themselves. No 
sensible person can show that it can be prevented, hence 
publicity is what evil-doers have got to contend with, for 
their acts are being ventilated daily. Specific education 
is self-destructive in comparison to its advantages pre¬ 
vious to the reading age. Educational systems are busi¬ 
ness enterprises that depend upon customers the same 
as any commodity of trade. They have been popular by 
reason of the inducements offered, that education would 
reveal the means of obtaining wealth, social station, and 
relief from menial labor. The reading public are dis¬ 
covering the social condition of a class that claimed to 
be more moral and trustworthy by reason of their spe¬ 
cific education. 

Parents are anxious to see their children well estab¬ 
lished in life, for it adds greatly to the joy of old age, 
but when the daily papers are filled with the debauchery 
of people who were looked upon as being superior, the 


344 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


veil of deception is being lifted. It requires very little 
ability to read of the corruption in the higher walks of 
life ; besides, the effort to hide it suggests the probability 
that only a mere fraction becomes public. On the other 
hand, the distress of the poor is paraded as the result of 
vice, because the poor have no means of hiding their 
condition. Poverty and misfortune are as often due to 
the deceptive faculty of the rich, as the natural spirit 
of self-reliance. No one can penetrate the real cause of 
suffering by mere surface indications It is the one 
thing the poor can hide as well as the rich, who have 
had a better opportunity in the past than the present to 
hide their duplicity. 

The dafiy papers that are eagerly read by tbe com¬ 
monest laborer are more educational than all the other 
systems of education combined, for the reason they are 
not as a whole devoted to a specific purpose or so con¬ 
trolled by pro-aristocratic interests as to disguise current 
events. While education can be used to encourage a 
classification of humanity, it is too broad a principle to 
prevent democracy from enjoying its benefit also. 

Since the advent of the printing press and the privi¬ 
lege of the common people to read, aristocracy has 
steadily declined. It should be noticed that the system 
is helpless in its dependence upon artificial knowledge. 
The effort to confine the privilege to read to specific 
teaching is as impossible as to restrict the free use of 
air or water. Literal authority is artificial, and confined 
to the realm of art. The degeneracy of aristocracy and 
the steady growth of democracy since the advent of a 
privilege to read, are proofs enough that the majority 
are destined to regulate the government systems. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


345 


Artificial knowledge must necessarily be confined to 
a minority, because it depends upon human acquirement, 
life being too short to embrace a majority in any human 
discipline. Literal authority is subordinate to the 
natural, and however much it disturbs established condi¬ 
tions it is wholly confined to the artificial. The failure 
to maintain aristocracy, or the American imitation, is 
a failure to maintain literal theories that dynasties 
have rested upon for ages. The able men of the United 
States are no more than human, and it is just as possible 
for them to become conceited with prosperity as it was 
for Roman nobles. This nation is very young compared 
with the Roman empire, and what reason has any fair 
minded man to believe that it can succeed in building up 
an aristocracy by fraud and debauchery that were the 
destruction of the old nations of the world. 

Sophistry is a common privilege of the present age, 
:and it could be assumed that America was destined, by 
reason of its educational system, to so purify the prin¬ 
ciple of aristocracy as to make it a moral example for 
democracy to follow. It is quite simple to reason from 
;a hypothesis of convenience, or from an effort to justify 
human desires, but the reading public are a factor not 
to be disposed of as conveniently as the people of old 
xvho dared to suggest any charity for the food producer. 
If star-chamber procedure was successful in the past, 
can it combat successfully with a reading public who 
can read every day of the current happenings of the 
■entire earth ? 

Artificial knowledge derived from books is only relative 
to natural knowledge that is inherent in the human 
mind. The artificial is confined to social conditions and 


346 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

represents aristocracy. The natural is individual and 
democratic. Now, with all the ability of man to invent 
or discover, he has never been able to discover what 
another knows other than by the relative means of art; 
hence if the artificial is aristocratic, the object of training 
is obvious; it therefore follows if aristocracy is degener¬ 
ating the principle of training is also. Besides, if the 
oppressed of Europe fled to America to establish a more 
severe aristocracy than they fled from, the United States 
would be in a better condition at the present as an hon¬ 
est monarchy than a deceptive republic. One could be 
reconciled to the treachery of John Adams upon the 
supposition that men become so inhuman in prosperity 
they would not be satisfied without grinding their fellow- 
men into their service by whatever process their superior 
ability suggested. 

The man who knows of a scheme to defraud the help¬ 
less of their natural rights to the bounties of the earth, 
and withholds it from the public for his private benefit, 
is just as guilty as the schemer. If education is the 
method of civilization, it must come from the democratic 
reader rather than from the aristocratic trainer. The 
evidence of the past is quite suggestive of possibilities, 
when it is remembered that the very foundation of the 
United States rests upon a little group of European 
outcasts, from which artificial man (Tories) fled in terror, 
only to return with the prospect of training democrats 
to adopt monarchial society. 

There is no greater mistake trained into the mind of 
man than the principle of aristocracy, it is often worse 
than depriving him of existence. A wealthy aristocrat 
can be tolerated, for the reason he has the means tG 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


347 


pay for the privilege, but a poor aristocrat is the most 
pitiable subject that the United States has to contend 
with. The public service is being crowded, and democ¬ 
racy is taxed for their support. It is apparently a pros¬ 
perous country, but democrats can read and wonder 
why a poor democrat should not receive as much attention 
as a poor aristocrat. 

Natural intelligence imparts to the individual what 
seems to be fixed laws, but after submitting to being- 
trained, he can be molded into whatever shape his train¬ 
ers desire, to obtain the greatest service; for that is the 
only interest the trainer has in his victim. If he can 
be trained sufficiently to lose his natural spirit, he be¬ 
comes a mental cripple from an original standpoint. He 
becomes an artificial student, and learns to imitate suc¬ 
cessfully, thus losing all ambition for structural develop¬ 
ment. If he is told he is educated, he has no reason to 
dispute it, for his natural intelligence is so overbalanced 
that he becomes a dependent upon any literal authority 
he is taught to believe. 

Governments have always been controlled by a minor¬ 
ity, the republic of the United States being no exception. 
No amount of artificial ability can save this nation 
against the destructive influence of immorality, for what¬ 
ever one’s opinion is, the majority of humanity is pre¬ 
served in righteousness by an overruling power regardless 
of what the power is called. It suggests a base for a 
sincere man to study, for between Nature and art is the 
conflict, as between good and evil, the former represents 
the majority while the latter is always the minority, if 
common observation and census reports are reliable. If 
Nature should fail to provide humanity with food, art 


348 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

would be as powerless as an army or a swarm of battle¬ 
ships to combat the situation. Hence the minority, art 
may continue to oppress the majority by reason of its 
lack of courage, but more properly from a lack of unity, 
which might appear to some minds as a natural law, and 
■often expressed as the “survival of the fittest.” A very 
vague expression, for dame Nature has charge of the 
survival of humanity, and if she permitted the entire 
race to become as reckless of human life as the minority 
is, it would show a degeneracy of entire humanity, 
while degeneracy from a historical point is entirely con¬ 
fined to aristocracy — the minority of humanity — also 
the artificially trained,, or what some might believe to 
be the educated. The use of words, however, has no 
more effect upon facts that can only be determined 
by natural intelligence than for an artist to paint a man’s 
face with honest features to prove his honesty. There is 
no mortgage on the word “education” or “democracy,” 
but when a political system organized to oppress the ma¬ 
jority of humanity uses the word “educated” to apply 
to a privileged few, and then embraces a branch of the 
system and names it “democracy,” how can the majority 
be prevented from uniting, when almost everybody is 
reading**the daily paper. 

The effort to emulate Nature has always been the 
ambition of the artist; it has been a very potent weapon 
also to deceive the majority and so confound their under¬ 
standing as to prevent a unity of action. 

“Human events” are the privilege of Nature, and 
however elevated the minority becomes by reason of 
artificial training, the majority always shows natural 
intelligence enough to unite against oppression just as 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


349 


quick as it becomes disclosed in plain language. It is 
only necessary to observe how united the people are in 
casting their votes for candidates who claim to be anti¬ 
monopolists, to realize the force of natural intelligence. 
The man who is trained to believe that Nature is vulgar, 
views with contempt the food producer, but Nature is 
not subjective to art, neither are all men victims of their 
surroundings. The elective principle of government 
means more than the surface of things indicate from the 
short period that the United States has existed. It had 
the effect to overthrow chattel slavery against the most 
violent effort of the minority. It was a fair contest 
between artificial intelligence and the natural. The 
history of the civil war should reveal to fair minded men, 
that the majority will defend its right against the minor¬ 
ity whenever an issue becomes plainly defined. There 
will be just as much occasion for war in the future as in 
the past if men of artificial ability persist in using such 
ability in defrauding the majority. 

One would suppose that the principle of servitude was 
settled by the lesson of the civil war, but the fact that 
it is not settled is evident from the continued effort to 
establish the authority of artificial ability over natural 
intelligence. If votes are disregarded, and the political 
tyrants who are the absolute rulers of the republic at 
present, refuse to acknowledge the majority, nothing 
but war will settle the matter. The people want nothing 
except an equal opportunity that was expressed in the 
Declaration of Independence. Surface appearance is a 
very poor indicator of what the common people are 
thinking about. Perhaps they can be compelled to 
think artificially, but it is more probable they will be 


350 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


governed by their natural instinct which all tyrants fear. 
The earth has never experienced a contest between art 
and Nature personified as between aristocracy and 
democracy. Wars have always been conducted by aris¬ 
tocracy compelling democracy to fight against its nat¬ 
ural rights. It will be different with a democracy that 
can read and knows what its natural rights are. 

The war between Russia and Japan demonstrated the 
difficulty of compelling an oppressed people to fight for 
the oppressor. The Japanese are applauded for being 
great warriors, but it only appears so on the surface, for 
it was the Russian peasant that won the victory by re¬ 
fusing to fight in battle, besides frightening the govern¬ 
ment upon its own ground. Men who are prone to 
boast of their artificial ability should spare a little time 
and study the relative ability of Nature compared to the 
deceptive character of art. It could also be observed 
in history that Nature bears all the artificial abuse 
heaped upon her, yet she always wins the victory. 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


351 


CHAPTER XXXIII. 

/7 AN any person enjoy the advantages of art, and also 
ycj believe it was for the exclusive benefit of a select 
few who make it appear that the great mass of hu¬ 
manity are mere subjects of deception ? How much 
more war will occur before the minority learns to be re¬ 
spectful toward the majority ? What is liberty if only 
through the deceptive lens of art it can be revealed ? 

Philosophy and science leave off where nature begins, 
for a mere discovery is not creative. Columbus was 
guided to the shore of America by a fire upon the island. 
It proves that the aborigines were human, for they had 
learned to use fire. Science never discovered anything 
more important, and if natural man had the inherent 
faculty to make use of fire, from whence did the teacher 
of art obtain a right to subjugate humanity and teach 
obedience to a specific class, who claimed a monopoly of 
knowledge and an exclusive privilege to teach ? 

The Great Teacher in the school of Nature teaches 
impartially, and the artificial teacher can hardly compete 
when the motive is to convince the majority of society 
that it is God’s will that the minority shall be served. 
Nature is-a slower teacher than art, and not always so 
attractive, but she is always successful in her own par¬ 
ticular time and method. She is always an example for 


352 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


the human teacher to follow, but when the artificial pre¬ 
dominates in the human mind, it is like a tree that is 
bent in training, and only by cutting down will the root 
struggle again to produce a straight tree. Literal 
authority in comparison to the authority of nature is too 
insignificant to find any production of art large enough 
to make even a minute comparison. Ancient literature, 
written for the purpose of justifying the oppression of 
humanity, cannot justly be considered as having even a 
sentimental authority over a system of government 
founded upon a victory of the oppressed. The conserv¬ 
ative man is too careful of his own interest to even con¬ 
sider the welfare of others, and it is quite remarkable 
to read the opinions of able writers that the majority 
should be taught gratitude toward the minority for being 
willing to be served. 

The individual can do no more than improve his 
opportunity and cultivate a courage of independence in 
whatever he believes to be right. What he owes to 
others for his natural opportunity is always a balanced 
account, and if there are any who believe that an imita¬ 
tion aristocracy can be maintained in a country of indi¬ 
vidual opportunity, it must follow that they disbelieve 
the records of history. It is equally as absurd to be¬ 
lieve that the man who can read will not discover that 
he has just as much right to the fruit of his toil as his 
employer. It is idle to believe that the laborer is 
dependent upon being taught what his opportunities 
are. The great barrier between the government of the 
United States and the majority of the people is the 
political system. It practically destroys the effective¬ 
ness of the ballot, the very object for which the system 


THE DEGENERACY, OF, ARISTOCRACY. 


353 


is maintained. “No man can serve two masters/' 
and it is the individual privilege to determine which one 
to serve. If a man believes that the majority are mere 
subjects to be ruled and trained to serve the pleasure of 
the minority, he is either insane or . a perfect type of 
aristocracy. It also amounts to the same thing to be¬ 
lieve that the common people derive a benefit from their 
privilege to vote. The possibility ot one man deceiving 
another proves the existence of a free will, and also the 
necessity of a government. 

The common people would rally to the support of the 
Union with the same spirit they did in 1861, but what 
is needed at present is a government in fact, instead of 
a mere paper affair, controlled and dictated by a system 
organized to defraud the people out of their natural 
rights. The mere electing of one monopolist to replace 
another is becoming too ridiculous to deceive the com¬ 
mon voter. Besides, the people are getting tired of 
being told that their representatives are devoted to the 
welfare of the whole people. 

If culture, specific training, wealth, and religion have 
not merit enough to make the possessors of such advan¬ 
tages honest, what can be expected of those who are de¬ 
pendent upon their natural ability ? No one can believe 
that a political system that controls educational systems 
and all commercial traffic, is striving to train the people 
to be honest, while the very existence of the system is 
to deceive them. 

Aristocracy is a product of democracy by reason of 
artificial culture, and history gives no evidence of success 
in its numerous efforts to subjugate its own source. 
Culture, however, is a common privilege, and while it 


354 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


gives a person prominence, it does not, in the )ight of an 
elective system of government, embrace more authority 
than an uncultured person possesses. There is no 
artificial method of embellishing righteousness, and no 
person can afford to seek culture for the purpose of com¬ 
manding an obedience from one who is ignorant of arti¬ 
ficial methods. If a man believes he is endowed with 
ability to promote the welfare of humanity, he must be 
honest in his actions, for the privilege of art and culture 
is too general for a deceptive purpose. 

It would be much better to acknowledge the right of 
majority rule than to risk a possible war; besides, the 
people have been deprived of the right long enough to 
show the exclusive character of a political system of 
government. The people that inhabit the earth at pres¬ 
ent are evidence enough that society has been success¬ 
fully governed. It raises another question, however, to 
determine whether it has been righteously governed or 
not. The individual has been a great factor in the nu¬ 
merous reformations that have taken place. Also dis¬ 
coveries and inventions have improved the conditions of 
life to a marked degree. Democracy has borne the bur¬ 
den of aristocracy in addition to its own support; the 
relation has not been reciprocal by reason of secret deals 
that are just beginning to leak out. The fear of aristoc¬ 
racy is evidence that they are conscious of an over¬ 
bearing disposition. It would seem that the opportunity 
had arrived to recognize the foundation of the human 
structure as an equal factor in the government of the 
whole. A common interest in the protective power of a 
government would relieve the fears of aristocracy and also 
brighten the prospect of democracy, when the division 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


355 


would disappear in the development of a common hu¬ 
manity. 

If a majority of the people of a nation are not compe¬ 
tent to be the governing power, it would be better to be 
absorbed by some nation that is, rather than to be 
ruled by a political system in the interest of corruption. 

Municipal ownership of public utilities would be 
equivalent to socialism. Its only merit would be that it 
might enlighten the people upon the tyranny of the 
political system, when the people would learn how sim¬ 
ple it was to be the government themselves. Experi¬ 
ments could at least be tried in referring measures of law 
direct to the people for a “yes” and “no” expression. 
Political socialism or municipal ownership would be as 
autocratic as any government ever devised to protect an 
exclusive class of society. 

All schools of learning are more devoted to the pro¬ 
tection of a specific class of society than a simple educa¬ 
tion ; the results are a disrespect to aged parents and 
little regard for moral rectitude. Cultivation is derived 
from art that is the individual free will to develop, but 
when the principle is employed to promote aristocracy, 
it is not only un-American, but proved by history to be 
self-destructive. A haughty boast of being a democrat 
and living in a free country shows the result of specific 
training, while the aristocratic actions show the absurdity 
of trying to play two parts at once. 

The worship of art is a misapplication of the principle 
•of culture; it is an attempt to manufacture an artificial 
religion. It promotes a disregard for natural law, and 
establishes a superficial appearance of morality, the 
equal of the Pharisee. In fact it is aristocratic con- 


356 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY'. 

struction as idolatrous as paganism. Specific society as 
an influence upon government reform, is the reason why 
every deceptive method of art will be employed to de¬ 
feat the teaching of Christ and the unity of humanity. 
The fact will remain, however, that God rules the entire 
earth by a natural law that is instilled into the individual 
mind, that neither culture nor politics has ever improved 
upon. It is only people who try to defy nature and 
live artificially that suffer the most. The individual free 
will permits of a choice between good and evil. The 
choice of evil will produce evil. The principle of culti¬ 
vation equally applies, for whichever principle is cultiva¬ 
ted the result will be the same. 

Leaving all ethical theories aside for a brief consider¬ 
ation of a possible system of government, based upon 
a united humanity—a Christian humanity. What prin¬ 
ciple has improved the government of society more than 
the elective ? Now, the privilege to vote for representa¬ 
tives of a republic was not bestowed upon the people of 
the original thirteen States ; it was derived from conquest, 
inspired by a courage of the individual free will. Hence 
the vote was one universal voice for liberty, and it was 
only methods of balloting that were regulated by law. 
The first representatives of the colonies may have acted 
in good faith in federating the States ; it did not change 
the original principle of the people’s voice. 

The practical rulers at the present time are as auto¬ 
cratic as the aristocracy of Europe ; they have destroyed 
the effectiveness of the people’s voice by making laws 
favorable to specific objects. In fact, they have so ab¬ 
solutely usurped the privilege of making tyrannical laws 
that the. people are as much subject to autocratic rule as 


THE' frfcGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY, 7 >S 7 

European nations are. The mere form of voting is not 
considered of any consequence by half the people, at 
least. Political corruption is no secret. Surely there 
are some honest men in this country who are not so 
warped to aristocratic ideas as not to realize what all this 
wickedness will lead to. 

The Massachusetts Senate defied the people by refus¬ 
ing to concur in the request to have the acts of the leg¬ 
islature referred to the people. Such an autocratic de¬ 
fiance one hundred years ago would not have been so boldly 
performed. It would appear to be a test to see how 
much the people would submit to. The overruling of 
the people of Kansas by its supreme court, and the 
question whether the people of Chicago have a right to 
regulate their municipal affairs, are proof enough that 
voting is a mere form. 

A simple declaration that a majority of the people of 
the United States constitutes the highest human law of 
the nation when expressed by a direct “yes” or “no” 
vote, would place any exception to such a declaration in 
the same position that the pro-slavery politicians were 
fifty years ago. If the people are not competent to 
know what kind of government they want, there is no 
reason why they are smart enough to vote for represen¬ 
tatives who declare themselves, after election, to be 
superior to all the people, however humble they are 
before. 

The fears of aristocracy that democracy could not be 
trusted without a strong governing power, has not been 
borne out by history. As a rule aristocracy has been 
the instigator of war, and every concession toward de¬ 
mocracy, either by compulsion or voluntarily, has im- 


358 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

V* 

proved a nation. The common people, and even “ wild 
men ” are, as a rule, inoffensive until they have been 
aggravated by some artificial influence. 

While the principle of education is eulogized upon 
every public occasion by men who call each other states¬ 
men, the common people are held to a condition of servi¬ 
tude by being deprived of their vote or voice, according 
to the pleasure of their representatives, whe defend an 
exclusive class of society. Men who call themselves 
statesmen and proclaim their devotion to the common, 
welfare,' while they act only in the interest of a favored 
class of society, are equally as inconsistent as slavehold¬ 
ing statesmen who were loud in their declaration of 
democracy, while in action they were aristocratic. The 
example of the civil war and the destruction of property, 
with the punishment the most prominent statesmen 
received, seem to be entirely disregarded by the states¬ 
men of the day. If artificial education is for the sole 
purpose of deceiving the artless, more attention should 
be given to the study of natural law. 

Nature teaches by experience in contradiction to the 
attraction of art. It is the balance of these conditions 
that constitutes a learned man; for the exclusive de¬ 
votion to art will develop aristocracy and encourage the 
pedagogue. 

It is the folly of the past that reveals wisdom to the 
individual and portrays art in its full character. The 
person who is intimidated by his surroundings will find 
them frail just as soon as he can cultivate courage 
enough to break the artificial bounds that jealous art- 
sets up. Democracy has no occasion for fear, in com¬ 
parison to the fright of aristocracy, and the structural 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. . 359 

character of art will permit of honest progress, so long 
as a just regard is paid to the natural foundation. It is 
less dangerous for an individual to contend for his natural 
right than to stop and be crushed to death waiting for 
assistance, or the privilege to serve some other Pilgrim. 
When a person does not know how to act natural he 
will never learn how from anyone else. 

It -is better to obey cheerfully a recognized statutory 
law even if unjust, for society will establish laws under 
whatever circumstances a group of people discover 
themselves. The individual privilege under a repre¬ 
sentative form of government has vastly improved since 
the advent of America, and there is nothing to fear 
from American aristocracy, for there is plenty of evidence 
that they are more frightened than democracy. Even 
if politicians and statesmen claim the credit for building 
up a great nation in America, it is enough for the com¬ 
mon people to know the claim is false. It is for fear 
the people will discover a method to unite their strength 
against the monopoly of a small minority that the com¬ 
mon people get any consideration at all. 

It would appear that men who signed the Declaration 
of Independence were inspired to perform a noble 
action, but like many others who have spells of virtue 
under favorable circumstances, they discovered it was 
too true for their own interest. A man will find what 
he desires much quicker than what would be best for him. 
Hence, after the early statesmen read a few musty books 
on the science of government, they discovered what all 
rulers had appeared to prove — that the ability to govern 
was the privilege to govern —and that specific knowl¬ 
edge would always establish a privilege to make laws, 


360 THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 

and whose interests were to be considered more than 
the personal interests of the lawmakers and the con¬ 
tingent social relations. 

The advent of the newspaper and the convenience of 
travel and social intercourse, are proving to be a means 
of universal education, more general and thorough than 
any of the aristocratic schools. It must result in the 
disconnection of a privileged class of society, with the 
exclusive privilege of making the laws to govern a great 
nation. The exclusiveness of education is rapidly be¬ 
coming a back number, at least so far as methods of 
government are concerned. What possible business will 
there be for a political system if graft and secret deals 
are to be publicly exposed in the daily papers ? II the 
government was reformed to a condition of honesty 
from what possible source could a political system obtain 
a profit ? 

It would be more strange than a miracle if the people 
did not find out that they had the privilege and the 
power to vote direct for the laws to govern society. 
The privilege is from a higher court than the General 
Court of Massachusetts, that recently refused to refer 
its acts to be ratified by a direct vote of the people. 
What were the representatives afraid of, unless it was 
to protect their power to fleece the people and cultivate 
an aristocratic system in America ? 

There is plenty of evidence in history, and also from 
the lesson of the Russian defeat, that individuals and 
nations become more reasonable as their power and 
profits wane. Hence there is no reason why people 
would be deprived of the privileges of exclusive society, 
or the accumulation of wealth, education or culture, by 


THE DEGENERACY OF ARISTOCRACY. 


361 


the recognition of justice, and the natural rights of the 
real producer, that aristocracy is more dependent upon 
than democracy. The great mass of humanity are 
•expected to submit to the self-elected few, but there is 
no reason why human progress will not continue whether 
the “task-masters” are willing or not. 


THE END. 


DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 


When, in the course of human events, it becomes neces¬ 
sary for one people to dissolve the political bands which 
have connected them with another, and to assume, among 
the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to 
which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, 
a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that 
they should declare the causes which impel them to the 
separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident—that all men are 
created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with 
certain inalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these 
rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving 
their just powers from the consent of the governed: that, 
whenever any form of government becomes destructive of 
these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish 
it, and to institute a new government, laying its foundations 
on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, 
as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and 
happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments 
long established should not be changed for light and tran¬ 
sient causes; and, accordingly, all experience hath shown 
that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are 
sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms 
to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of 
abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same ob¬ 
ject, evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despo¬ 
tism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such gov¬ 
ernment, and to provide new guards for their future security. 
Such has been the patient suffering of these colonies, 
and such is now the necessity which constrains them to> 



alter their former systems of government. The history of 
the present king of Great Britain is a history of repeated 
injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the es¬ 
tablishment of an absolute tyranny over these States. To 
prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world. 

i. He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome 
and necessary for the public good. 

2 He has forbidden his g'overnors to pas-s laws of imme¬ 
diate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their 
operations till his assent should be obtained; and, when so 
suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. 

3. He has refused to pass other laws for the accommoda¬ 
tion of large districts of people, unless those people would 
relinquish the right of representation in the Legislature— 
a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 

4. He has called together legislative bodies at places 
unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the repository of 
their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them 
into compliance with his measures. 

5. He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, 
for opposing, with manly firmness, his invasions on the 
rights of the people. 

6. He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, 
to cause others to be elected, whereby the legislative powers 
incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at 
large for their exercise; the State remaining, in the mean 
time, exposed to all the dangers of invasions from without, 
and convulsions within. 

7. He has endeavored to prevent the population of these 
States; for that purpose obstructing the laws for the nat¬ 
uralization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encour¬ 
age their migration hither, and raising the conditions of 
new appropriations of lands. 

8. He has obstructed the administration of justice, by re¬ 
fusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. 

9. He has made judges dependent on his will alone for 
the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of 
their salaries. 

to. He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent 
hither swarms of officers to harass our people and eat out 
their substance. 

11. He has kept among us in times of peace, standing 
armies, without the consent of our Legislatures. 


12. He has affected to render the military independent 
of, and superior to, the civil power. 

13. He has combined with others to subject us to a juris¬ 
diction foreign to our constitutions, and unacknowledged by 
our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legis¬ 
lation : 

14. For quartering large lodies of armed troops among 
us ; 

15. For protecting them, by a mock trial, from punish¬ 
ment for any murders which they should commit on the 
inhabitants of these States; 

16. For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world ; 

17. For imposing taxes on us without our consent; 

18. For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of 
trial by jury ; 

19. For transporting us beyond seas, to be tried for pre¬ 
tended offences; 

20. For abolishing the free system of English laws in a 
neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary gov¬ 
ernment, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at 
once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same 
absolute rule into these colonies; 

21. For taking away our charters, abolishing our most 
valuable laws, and altering, fundamentally, the forms of our 
governments ; 

22. For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring 
themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all 
cases whatsoever. 

23. He has abdicated government here; by declaring us 
out of his protection, and waging war against us. 

24. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, 
burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 

25. He is at this time transporting large armies of for¬ 
eign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, 
and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty 
and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, 
and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. 

26. He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive 
on the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to be¬ 
come the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to 
fall themselves by their hands. 

27. He has excited domestic insurrection among us, and 
has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers 


the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare 
is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and 
conditions 

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned 
for redress in the most humble terms; our repeated peti¬ 
tions have been answered only by repealed injury. A 
prince whose character is thus marked by every act which 
may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in our attentions to our 
British brethren. We have warned them, from time to time, 
of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable 
jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the cir¬ 
cumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We 
have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and 
have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to 
disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt 
our connections and correspondence. They, too, have been 
deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity. We must 
therefore, acquiesce to the necessity which denounces our 
separation, and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind— 
enemies in war, in peace, friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States 
of America, in general Congress assembled, appealing to 
the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our 
intentions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good 
people of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare that 
these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and 
independent States; that they are absolved from all alle¬ 
giance to the British crown, and that all political connection 
between them and the state of Great Britain is, and ought 
to be, totally dissolved, and that, as free and independent 
States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, 
contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other 
acts and things which independent States may of right do. 
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance 
on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge 
to each other our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor. 


John Adams, 

Samuel Adams, 

Tosiah Bartlett, 

Carter Braxton, 

Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, 


Samuel Chase, 
Abraham Clark, 
George Clymer, 
William Ellery, 
William Floyd, 


Benjamin Franklin, 
Elbridge Gerry, 

Button Gwinnet, 

Lyman Hall, 

John Hancock, 
Benjamin Harrison, 
John Hart, 

Thomas Hayward, Jr., 
Joseph Hewes, 

William Hooper, 
Stephen Hopkins, 
Francis Hopkinson, 
Samuel Huntington, 
Thomas Jefferson, 
Francis Lightfoot Lee, 
Richard Henry Lee, 
Francis Lewis, 

Philip Livingston, 
Thomas Lynch, Jr., 
Thomas McKean, 
Arthur Middleton, 
Lewis Morris, 

Robert Morris, 


John Morton, 

Thomas Nelson, Jr., 
William Paca, 

Robert Treat Paine, 
John Penn, 

George Read, 

Caesar Rodney, 

George Ross, 

Benjamin Rush, M. D., 
Edward Rutledge, 
Roger Sherman, 

James Smith, 

Richard Stockton, 
Thomas Stone, 

George Taylor, 
Matthew Thornton, 
George Walton, 
William Whipple, 
William Williams, 
James Wilson, 

John Witherspoon, 
Oliver Wolcott, 

George Wythe. 


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MAR 23 1907 
















































































































































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